Restructuring the Economy

Abstract

The sluggish performance of the French economy during the early 1980s and the problems which this engendered, notably in the form of unemployment and balance of payments deficits, make it difficult to imagine that little more than a decade ago France boasted one of the highest rates of economic growth amongst the world’s advanced industrial nations, taking second place only to Japan; moreover this pattern of expansion had been sustained over an extended period, led by an exceptionally dynamic industrial sector. With the accompanying substantial rise in earnings and living standards, it is with some justification that the period from the end of the Second World War until the mid-1970s has been referred to as the ‘trente glorieuses’.1 Indeed so strong was the impetus for growth that it was confidently predicted just prior to the oil crisis of 1973 that by the following decade the size of the French economy would have outstripped that of its neighbour and rival, West Germany.KeywordsSmart CardScience ParkConversion PoleFrench EconomyFrench ManufacturerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.