Reflections on the Blum Experiment

THE problem discussed in this article is very simple: why has France had nothing worth calling an economic recovery since 1930 ? Why is she the only country to have passed from one period of depression into another without enjoying aninterval of prosperity in the meantime ? I shall not carry the analysis beyond the time when the world economy itself began to decline anew. There is nothing surprising in the downward trend of the French economy since the winter of 1937-1938. What does require explanation is the stagnation of her industry and trade during 1936 and 1937. For reasons which will become clear as we proceed, I shall divide the period under discussion into four subperiods: (I) from July, 1935 (the final attempt by the Laval Government to carry out a policy of deflation) to June, 1936 (formation of the Blum Government); (2) from June, 1936 to September, I936 (first devaluation of the franc); (3) from September, 1936 to March, 1937 (general enforcement of the forty-hour week Law); (4) from March, 1937 to the autumn of I937 (beginning of the recent decline in world economic activity). The economic history of these two years clearly cannot be fully discussed in a few pages. My aim is simply to point out its most important features, giving only a brief mention to those which are well-known and undisputed but considering more fully those points which are controversial. In particular, I want to show why the attempts made to restore prosperity during this period proved futile and to refute the view, very widely held, that the Blum experiment failed because its authors, owing to their reluctance to discard orthodox formulas, were not sufficiently bold

Economics · Economic Theory and Policy · European Socioeconomic and Political Studies · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Psychology

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