Economic Management and French Business From de Gaulle to Chirac

by Maclean, Mairi

• ISBN13: 9780333761489
• ISBN10: 0333761480
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

How is it that the modest pace of change which typified the French economy a century ago gave way after 1945 to a new, revived capitalism and a superior economic performance? Mairi Maclean argues that the new French capitalism of the 21st century is the product of an ideological struggle in which the forces of modernization triumphed over the old guard of French nationalism.

Author Biography

Mairi Maclean is Professor of European Studies at the University of the West of England

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	x
Acknowledgements	xii
List of Abbreviations	xiii
Introduction: Economic Growth and the Transformation of French Business	1	(16)
Enduring Influences: French Business and the State	17	(28)
Economic change in France in the postwar era	18	(2)
The French national business system	20	(4)
Economic sovereignty as a national aspiration	24	(1)
Rousseau and the concept of the general interest	25	(2)
Colbertism, the state and business	27	(3)
Centralism and localism	30	(1)
War and the national consciousness	31	(1)
French business in historical perspective	32	(4)
French business culture	36	(3)
The changing role of the state	39	(1)
The French business model in transition	40	(2)
Conclusion	42	(3)
Liberation, Modernisation and the Fourth Republic	45	(28)
The French economy at Liberation	45	(5)
The business community and symbolic retribution	50	(4)
Nationalisation and economic renewal	54	(4)
The political and economic tribulations of the Fourth Republic	58	(3)
Reconstruction and Marshall Aid	61	(2)
Economic planning and the quest for modernisation	63	(4)
Economic management and the American model	67	(3)
Conclusion	70	(3)
The `Golden Age' of the Gaullist Era	73	(35)
Devaluation and deflation	76	(2)
Economic planning	78	(4)
Industrial policy and technological independence	82	(2)
Industrial concentration and national champions	84	(4)
Concentration in services	88	(2)
Modernisation in agriculture	90	(5)
The Franco-German relationship and primacy in Europe	95	(4)
Grandeur through Europe	99	(3)
The downfall of de Gaulle's Republic	102	(4)
Conclusion	106	(2)
The Giscard Years: from Prosperity to Deepening Crisis	108	(23)
French dependence on imported energy	110	(3)
The economic effects of crisis	113	(4)
French responses to the crisis	117	(5)
Industrial policy	122	(3)
The end of the Giscard era	125	(4)
Conclusion	129	(2)
The Socialist Experiment: Coming to Terms with Economic Realities	131	(24)
L'etat de grace	134	(2)
Nationalisation and economic progress	136	(6)
From relance to rigueur	142	(2)
The rehabilitation of the firm	144	(6)
Denationalisation in vogue	150	(2)
Conclusion	152	(3)
Competitive Liberalism and European Ambitions	155	(29)
Privatisation and popular capitalism	157	(5)
Big is beautiful: the drive for critical mass	162	(3)
European ambitions	165	(2)
German comparisons	167	(3)
France and Europe: fortress or open house?	170	(2)
France and world trade: Realpolitik oblige?	172	(5)
An era of scandal	177	(4)
Conclusion	181	(3)
French Business and Global Economic Integration	184	(34)
The pressures of EMU (1995--99)	185	(5)
France and globalisation	190	(2)
The internationalisation of French business	192	(14)
The French national business system revisited	206	(2)
Who owns French business?	208	(4)
The enduring nature of business networks	212	(4)
Conclusion	216	(2)
Conclusion	218	(14)
The argument revisited	220	(7)
An ideological revolution?	227	(3)
Summation	230	(2)
Notes	232	(37)
Bibliography	269	(15)
Index	284