Invariably misunderstood by Anglophones, and often derided in the English-language financial press, the French economy remains one of the world's major economies. For many years characterized by a distinctive economic model in which the French state intervened to correct or prevent market failures, as France has embraced the global market, its economy has converged with the western norm, but it remains different from its western neighbours, particularly Germany and the UK, in a number of important respects. Frances Lynch provides an authoritative analysis of the modern French economy from its postwar reforms, through the period of Gaullist national planning, to the impact of the recent global financial crisis. She explores the monetary and fiscal policies of successive governments and the country's economic performance through a variety of indicators. In particular she explores the attempts by the state to correct the regional imbalances associated with the contraction of agriculture and the decline of the textile, coal and steel industries as well as the dominance of Paris. The part played by demographic change, income inequality, the European project and migration patterns in French economic development are also investigated. The strength and competitiveness of the public and private sectors is detailed, including the key industries of finance, energy and transport. The book is to be welcomed as the first general economic history of France since 2004 and is the first to include the impact of the global financial crisis. It is also an important corrective to recent work that has emphasized the convergence of the French economy and society and instead reasserts the importance of the state in the economic picture analysing the interaction of the state and the market across the postwar years.

At the end of World War II, experts on both sides of the Atlantic believed that France was doomed to economic stagnation. French culture and institutions, they argued, inhibited the changes in economic structure that sustained growth would require. But in spite of these predictions and the occasional volatility of the world economy, the French economy grew rapidly. Only the Japanese, of the major economies, has grown faster, and by 1975 the French standard of living matched that of West Germany. Restructuring the French Economy looks at the four decades of the structural changes that fostered growth and explores explanations of why such changes occurred. Drawing on many and diverse primary materials, including government statistics, judicial decisions, and professional memoirs, Adams examines three different explanations of France's postwar economic success. The first downplays the extent of structural change during the surge of growth. The second emphasizes the importance of government policies to compensate for inadequate private initiative. The third suggests that European economic integration and French decolonization created enough market competition to push the private sector into its own restructuring. Adams stresses that if government initiatives worked well, they did so in an environment of strong market competition; if competition seemed to work wonders, it occurred only as a result of government actions. He also devotes considerable attention to the implications of his findings for U.S. policy concerning European protectionism and the health and growth of American industries.

The French economy rebounded quickly following the COVID-19 crisis, in particular thanks to the acceleration of the vaccination campaign and strong public support measures. Rapid and effective implementation of the recovery and investment plans would help support stronger and more sustainable growth.

Publisher Description

Studies in the History of French Political Economy considers the evolution of economic thought in France, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Gilbert Faccarello brings to the forefront those economists, themes and controversies which are important in the context of recent research, and about which new ideas can be developed.

This is a comprehensive history of a critically formative period in French economic history. Frances Lynch covers topics such as the post-war negotiations for American aid, the reconstruction of a capital market, the modernization of French agriculture, the liberalization of trade in the 1950s and subsequent economic growth.

Understanding French economic development in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has always proved a formidable challenge for historians. This concise 1995 survey for students is designed to make clear the areas of controversy among historians, and to guide the reader through the complexities of the debate. The author provides succinct surveys of findings on the pattern of development, and on the underlying causes of that pattern. He addresses questions such as: was France a latecomer or an early starter in industrialisation? Did long periods of protectionism help or hinder development? And was the peasantry an obstacle to change in the economy? He argues that France was not the 'backward economy' it was often thought to be; instead, it provides a quietly successful case of economic development, avoiding the massive social upheaval experienced elsewhere in Europe.