1991/11/01 by J. Bradford De Long, Barry Eichengreen · 3 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Global Financial Crisis and Policies #Economic Growth and Productivity #Economic Theory and Policy
paper · pdf · doi:10.3386/w3899
openalex publication_date 1991/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
The post-World War II reconstruction of Western Europe was one of the greatest economic policy and foreign policy successes of this century. "Folk wisdom" assigns a major role in successful reconstruction to the Marshall Plan: the program that transferred some 13 billion to Europe in the years 1948-51. We examine the economic effects of the Marshall Plan, and find that it was not large enough to have significantly accelerated recovery by financing investment, aiding the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, or easing commodity bottlenecks. We argue, however, that the Marshall Plan did play a major role in setting the stage for post-World War II Western Europe's rapid growth.