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Economic and Monetary Union and the Social Divide in France1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2008

Bernard H. Moss
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Extract

Monetary policy since the Second World War has always been a politically and socially sensitive issue in France. It reflected the peculiar strength of the French Communist Party (PCF) in the unions and working class. Postwar governments relied upon monetary inflation, devaluation and administered credit to sustain growth and guarantee social peace. With the exception of the period following General de Gaulle's seizure of power in 1958, there was little choice for governments faced with weak, divided and conflicting unions, a volatile work force, and a united left threatening radical change. Where German governments responded to union challenges and the oil shock of 1974 with deflation, the French expanded the money supply. The divergence of French policy from German after 1968 made European economic and monetary union impossible.

Type
Articles
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 1998 , pp. 227 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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