Les «vingt glorieuses». La croissance française des années 1970 à nos jours

The "Vingt Glorieuses". The growth of the French economy from 1970 to today, Jacques Marseille. Since 1970, the French average annual GDP has been 2 % ; household consumption has grown more quickly than production in spite of the increase of prices ; the discrepancy in purchasing power between socio-professional categories has decreased; the rate of households purchasing appliances has leaped ; the French economy increased its trade with foreign countries from 17.5 % in 1973 to 22.8 % in 1994. Signs that, despite the virtual stagnation in investment volume, show these last 20 years as a period of exceptional economic dynamism and challenge the current reading of the crisis. Sectorial analyses indicate a deep change in the French economy, the emergence of the tertiary as the main producer of wealth contrasting with a relative decline of the secondary sector whose more detailed analysis illustrates its selective character. Growth, however, proves unable to deal with the increase of unemployment. The massive irruption of underemployment shows that the relationship of French society to work has changed at the same time as its consumption habits. Because officials talk about an imaginary crisis instead of grasping the change, they prevent themselves from understanding the basic causes of unemployment and solving it.Marseille Jacques. Les «vingt glorieuses». La croissance française des années 1970 à nos jours. In: Vingtième Siècle, revue d'histoire, n°52, octobre-décembre 1996. Les crises économiques du 20e siècle. pp. 94-101