L'année 1954 : un cas de sortie de crise. Temps court et temps long en histoire économique contemporaine - article ; n°2 ; vol.42, pg 347-367

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1987 - Volume 42 - Numéro 2 - Pages 347-367
1954: A Case of Crisis Egression. Short and Long Term in Contemporary Economic History.
The study of crises—in which we see the shock-paroxysm characteristic of middle-length cycles and a fifteen year depression—has advanced more than the analysis of crisis egression. Reconstitution of the way which led out of the 1930's crash allows us to sketch out the remodelling of the mode of growth which assured the continuation of the stimulation (which was almost artificial) begun by Reconstuction; the stimulation was, in part, financed by American aid, and it laid down the bases for further self-sustained expansion. The short cycle crisis (1952-53) was a crucial tool for decision-makers; this can be seen in the lucid and modernist discourse of the Mendesists. Five phenomena converged: first and foremost, changes in the capacity and productivity of modernization/reconstructive investments; (2) the push from entrepreneurs starting up in the slots of anticipated growth and in the niches of industrial, financial and commercial innovation; then, (3) from 1953 to 1955, the turnabout in the world situation which accentuated governmental stimulation of growth, in particular through the taxation of businesses; (4) the State's expansionistic choice edifying a deliberate and coherent strategy of support of public andprivate investment, through the introduction in France of Keynesian methods of operating; and lastly, (5) the parallelism between increased supply, due to investment in productivity and capacity, and increased demand due to the simultaneous agreement by the government and company heads to distribute buying power by applying, in a more or less systematic way, rules of social Fordism. Along with the growth sectors erected by the Reconstruction's mixed industry, with the building-blocks ofthe industries producing intermediary goods and equipment, one could henceforth count as growth sectors—i.e. creators of factories and jobs—the industries of consumption whose growth rates jumped markedly and then steadied in the second half ofthe 1950's.
21 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.