The Postwar Economic Order
National Reconstruction and International Cooperation
Published on 22. November 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-231-20059-2 (ISBN)
Description
Winner, 2024 Best Scholarly Edition Award, European Society for the History of Economic Thought
Years before he became renowned as one of the most original social scientists of the twentieth century, Albert O. Hirschman played an active role in the rebuilding of postwar Europe. Between 1946 and 1952, he worked as an economic analyst in the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Board of the United States, focusing on the reconstruction of Europe and the Marshall Plan. In that capacity, Hirschman wrote a number of reports about European economic policies, the first efforts at intra-European cooperation, and the uncertainties that surrounded the shaping of a new international economic order with the United States at its core.
The Postwar Economic Order presents a collection of these interrelated reports, which offer incisive firsthand analysis of postwar Europe and give a behind-the-scenes view of American debates on European economic recovery. They feature nuanced and sophisticated discussion of topics such as the postwar "dollar shortage," U.S.-European relations, and the first steps toward European economic integration. Hirschman provides original and perceptive interpretations of the struggles that European governments faced along their paths toward economic recovery. Throughout, Hirschman's stylistic gifts and characteristic ways of reasoning are on full display as he highlights the counterintuitive and paradoxical aspects of economic and political processes. Shedding new light on the origins of European economic cooperation, this book provides unparalleled insight into the development of Hirschman's thinking on economic development and reform.
Years before he became renowned as one of the most original social scientists of the twentieth century, Albert O. Hirschman played an active role in the rebuilding of postwar Europe. Between 1946 and 1952, he worked as an economic analyst in the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Board of the United States, focusing on the reconstruction of Europe and the Marshall Plan. In that capacity, Hirschman wrote a number of reports about European economic policies, the first efforts at intra-European cooperation, and the uncertainties that surrounded the shaping of a new international economic order with the United States at its core.
The Postwar Economic Order presents a collection of these interrelated reports, which offer incisive firsthand analysis of postwar Europe and give a behind-the-scenes view of American debates on European economic recovery. They feature nuanced and sophisticated discussion of topics such as the postwar "dollar shortage," U.S.-European relations, and the first steps toward European economic integration. Hirschman provides original and perceptive interpretations of the struggles that European governments faced along their paths toward economic recovery. Throughout, Hirschman's stylistic gifts and characteristic ways of reasoning are on full display as he highlights the counterintuitive and paradoxical aspects of economic and political processes. Shedding new light on the origins of European economic cooperation, this book provides unparalleled insight into the development of Hirschman's thinking on economic development and reform.
Reviews / Votes
Between the early Albert Hirschman who did uncredited work for Alexander Gerschenkron and the late Hirschman who was a celebrated development economist is the forgotten Hirschman who analyzed Europe for the Federal Reserve Board. Michele Alacevich and Pier Francesco Asso have done us a service by collecting Hirschman's unpublished reports on post-World War II Europe between 1947 and 1952. Hirschman appears as an already fully-formed development economist attuned to the complexities of a multisector economy but also as a sophisticated analyst of monetary factors that, interestingly, fall away in his subsequent work. A must-read not just for historians of economic thought but also for scholars of economic development. -- Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee & Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley These collected reports provide a unique vantage point on the postwar coevolution of European integration, multilateralism, and the Marshall Plan. We see that Hirschman's postwar tenure as a researcher at the Fed's Western European desk was deeply formative and intellectually fertile. In these reports we see embryos of what later became Hirschman's signature epistemic, theoretical, and normative commitments. In this way, the collection provides us with insight into the intellectual development of one of the twentieth century's most powerful and original intellects. -- Ilene J. Grabel, Distinguished University Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver This important volume illuminates the unorthodox and pragmatic views on postwar Europe and a new international economic order of one of the twentieth century's most prominent social scientists. Brilliantly introduced, these little-known essays provide food for thought on Europe's way forward and the relaunch of an open international environment. -- Gianni Toniolo, LUISS School of European Political Economy, Rome A valuable instrument for both historians and economists, in order to better appreciate a heterodox economist and reformer. * Journal of European Economic History * A timely contribution to ongoing debates in economic, international, and business history. * Business History Review * These are two wonderful books which should be read by all those interested in economic development and international relations. They help us understand how the interplay between ideas, power and structural constraints - both at the domestic and international economic levels - affects the direction of economic change and determines its success or failure in fostering growth, welfare and political democracy. * Development and Change *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-231-20059-2 (9780231200592)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Albert O. Hirschman | Michele Alacevich | Pier Francesco Asso
The Postwar Economic Order
National Reconstruction and International Cooperation
E-Book
11/2022
1st Edition
Columbia University Press
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Albert O. Hirschman (1915-2012) was an acclaimed and influential economist and social scientist. He taught at Columbia University and Harvard University, and he was professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. His best-known books include National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade (1945), The Strategy of Economic Development (1958), Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (1970), The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph (1977), Shifting Involvements: Private Interest and Public Action (1982), and The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy (1991).
Michele Alacevich is professor of the history of economics and economic history at the University of Bologna. He is the author of Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography (Columbia, 2021) and The Political Economy of the World Bank: The Early Years (2009), as well as coauthor of Inequality: A Short History (2018).
Pier Francesco Asso is professor of the history of economic thought and international political economy at the University of Palermo. He is the author of several books in Italian on topics such as the history of banking and twentieth-century economic thought.
Michele Alacevich is professor of the history of economics and economic history at the University of Bologna. He is the author of Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography (Columbia, 2021) and The Political Economy of the World Bank: The Early Years (2009), as well as coauthor of Inequality: A Short History (2018).
Pier Francesco Asso is professor of the history of economic thought and international political economy at the University of Palermo. He is the author of several books in Italian on topics such as the history of banking and twentieth-century economic thought.
Content
Editors' Acknowledgments and a Note on the Texts
Introduction: Albert O. Hirschman at the Federal Reserve, 1946-1952, by Michele Alacevich and Pier Francesco Asso
Part I. Patterns of European Reconstruction: Macroeconomic Challenges
1. Higher Interest Rates and the Credit Shortage in France
2. Exchange Control in Italy-I
3. Exchange Control in Italy-II
4. France and Italy: Patterns of Reconstruction
5. Public Finance, Money Markets, and Inflation in France
6. Credit Restrictions and Deflation in Italy
Part II. The Marshall Plan and the End of Discrimination
7. Trade Structure of the "Marshall Plan Countries"
8. Inflation and Balance-of-Payments Deficit
9. Dollar Shortage and Discrimination
10. The OEEC Interim Report on the European Recovery Program-A Summary
11. The U.S. Recession and the Dollar Position of the OEEC Countries
12. The New Intra-European Payments Scheme
Part III. European Integration and the Way Back to Multilateralism
13. Proposal for a European Monetary Authority
14. Liberalization of the ECA Dollar: Introductory Note
15. European Payments Union-A Possible Basis for Agreement
16. Multilateralism and European Integration
17. The European Payments Union
18. Size and Distribution of the Public Debt in Selected Countries
19. The Long-Run Effect of Development and Industrialization Abroad on the United States
Part IV. The Economic Consequences of U.S. Hegemony
20. The Long-Run Effect of Development and Industrialization Abroad on the United States
21. The Influence of U.S. Economic Conditions on Foreign Countries (with Robert Solomon)
Index
Introduction: Albert O. Hirschman at the Federal Reserve, 1946-1952, by Michele Alacevich and Pier Francesco Asso
Part I. Patterns of European Reconstruction: Macroeconomic Challenges
1. Higher Interest Rates and the Credit Shortage in France
2. Exchange Control in Italy-I
3. Exchange Control in Italy-II
4. France and Italy: Patterns of Reconstruction
5. Public Finance, Money Markets, and Inflation in France
6. Credit Restrictions and Deflation in Italy
Part II. The Marshall Plan and the End of Discrimination
7. Trade Structure of the "Marshall Plan Countries"
8. Inflation and Balance-of-Payments Deficit
9. Dollar Shortage and Discrimination
10. The OEEC Interim Report on the European Recovery Program-A Summary
11. The U.S. Recession and the Dollar Position of the OEEC Countries
12. The New Intra-European Payments Scheme
Part III. European Integration and the Way Back to Multilateralism
13. Proposal for a European Monetary Authority
14. Liberalization of the ECA Dollar: Introductory Note
15. European Payments Union-A Possible Basis for Agreement
16. Multilateralism and European Integration
17. The European Payments Union
18. Size and Distribution of the Public Debt in Selected Countries
19. The Long-Run Effect of Development and Industrialization Abroad on the United States
Part IV. The Economic Consequences of U.S. Hegemony
20. The Long-Run Effect of Development and Industrialization Abroad on the United States
21. The Influence of U.S. Economic Conditions on Foreign Countries (with Robert Solomon)
Index