49/2011 Nicholas Crafts

This paper surveys the literature on the Marshall Plan which was designed to help the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. A basic description of how the Marshall Plan was implemented is provided but the focal point is a consideration of the impact of American aid on European growth. It is concluded that the direct effects were positive but modest. The indirect effects working through induced policy changes may have been larger. If so, the Marshall Plan may be thought of as a successful structural adjustment program of the kind advocated by believers in the Washington Consensus.

Economic History

Routledge Handbook of Major Events in Economic History

http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203067871.ch18