Description
Book SynopsisYears 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. This book presents a collection of his reports about economic policy, early efforts at intra-European cooperation, and the new U.S.-centered international order.
Trade ReviewBetween 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 Michele Alacevich and Pier Francesco Asso have done us a service by collecting Hirschman's unpublished reports on post-World War II Europe between 1947 and 1952.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 *
Table of ContentsEditors’ 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 Challenges1. 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 Discrimination7. 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 Multilateralism13. 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. Hegemony20. 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
