Between 1946 and 1952, Albert Hirschman worked as an economist in charge of the Western European desk of the research branch of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington. In this position he wrote extensively on the pattern of European postwar reconstruction and the creation of a new world economic order. Given his deep knowledge and prewar experiences, Italy and France were his first areas of specialization, though Hirschman soon contributed to the analysis of the Marshall plan, the shaping of the European Payments Union, and the solution of the dollar shortage. This paper provides a comprehensive interpretation of this early stage of Hirshman’s intellectual biography that also contains an interesting, unpublished proposal for the creation of a new European Monetary Authority that was developed under the auspices of Paul Hoffman and the ECA. Besides Hirschman’s contributions to several technical aspects of European reconstruction and the restoration of multilateralism, we show that during the Fed years, he sharpened his ability to examine processes of policymaking in difficult times, rejecting prefabricated recipes and developing a sensitivity for inverted sequential processes, inducement mechanisms, and apparently paradoxical solutions in an uncertain environment. Namely, the roots of what would become the distinctive “Hirschmanesque” style of thought.
Alacevich, M., Asso, P.F. (2023). Albert O. Hirschman, Europe, and the Postwar Economic Order, 1946–52. HISTORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, 55(1), 39-75 [10.1215/00182702-10213625].
Albert O. Hirschman, Europe, and the Postwar Economic Order, 1946–52
Asso, PF
2023-02-01
Abstract
Between 1946 and 1952, Albert Hirschman worked as an economist in charge of the Western European desk of the research branch of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington. In this position he wrote extensively on the pattern of European postwar reconstruction and the creation of a new world economic order. Given his deep knowledge and prewar experiences, Italy and France were his first areas of specialization, though Hirschman soon contributed to the analysis of the Marshall plan, the shaping of the European Payments Union, and the solution of the dollar shortage. This paper provides a comprehensive interpretation of this early stage of Hirshman’s intellectual biography that also contains an interesting, unpublished proposal for the creation of a new European Monetary Authority that was developed under the auspices of Paul Hoffman and the ECA. Besides Hirschman’s contributions to several technical aspects of European reconstruction and the restoration of multilateralism, we show that during the Fed years, he sharpened his ability to examine processes of policymaking in difficult times, rejecting prefabricated recipes and developing a sensitivity for inverted sequential processes, inducement mechanisms, and apparently paradoxical solutions in an uncertain environment. Namely, the roots of what would become the distinctive “Hirschmanesque” style of thought.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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