The European Economy since 1945
：Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond
( The Princeton Economic History of the Western World )
Publication subTitle ：Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond
Publication series ：The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
Author： Eichengreen Barry;;;
Publisher： Princeton University Press
Publication year： 2008
E-ISBN: 9781400829545
P-ISBN(Paperback): 9780691138480
Subject： F1 The World Economic Profiles , Economic History , Economic Geography;F2 Economic Planning and Management;K5 European History
Keyword： 欧洲史,经济计划与管理,世界各国经济概况、经济史、经济地理
Language： ENG
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Description
In 1945, many Europeans still heated with coal, cooled their food with ice, and lacked indoor plumbing. Today, things could hardly be more different. Over the second half of the twentieth century, the average European's buying power tripled, while working hours fell by a third. The European Economy since 1945 is a broad, accessible, forthright account of the extraordinary development of Europe's economy since the end of World War II. Barry Eichengreen argues that the continent's history has been critical to its economic performance, and that it will continue to be so going forward.
Challenging standard views that basic economic forces were behind postwar Europe's success, Eichengreen shows how Western Europe in particular inherited a set of institutions singularly well suited to the economic circumstances that reigned for almost three decades. Economic growth was facilitated by solidarity-centered trade unions, cohesive employers' associations, and growth-minded governments--all legacies of Europe's earlier history. For example, these institutions worked together to mobilize savings, finance investment, and stabilize wages.
However, this inheritance of economic and social institutions that was the solution until around 1973--when Europe had to switch from growth based on brute-force investment and the acquisition of known technologies to growth based on increased efficiency and innovation--then became the problem.
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