Dirigisme (from the French) (in English also "dirigism" although per the OED both spellings are used) is an economic term designating an economy where the government exerts strong directive influence. Jump to: navigation, search The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a comprehensive dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ...

While the term has been applied occasionally to centrally planned economies, where the government effectively controls production and allocation of resources (in particular, to certain socialist economies where the national government owns the means of production), it originally had neither of these meanings when applied to France, and generally designates a mainly capitalist economy with a strong economic participation by government. Most modern economies are dirigiste to some degree – for instance, governmental action may be exercised through subsidizing research and developing new technologies, or through government procurement, especially military. A command economy is an economic system in which government decisions are made by central state economic managers who determine what sorts of goods and services to produce and how they are to be priced and allocated, and may include state ownership of the means of production. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... Jump to: navigation, search In common usage capitalism refers to an economic system that is intended to step over the worker and give lots of profit for a few individuals. ...

France

Before the Second World War, France had a relatively fragmented capitalist economic system, which generally operated under traditional laissez-faire economic policies. The many small companies, often family-owned, were often not dynamic and efficient when compared to the large industrial groups of Germany or the United States. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Jump to: navigation, search In common usage capitalism refers to an economic system that is intended to step over the worker and give lots of profit for a few individuals. ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ...

The Second World War laid waste to France. Railroads and industries were destroyed by aerial bombardment and sabotage; industries were seized by Nazi Germany; the population lived with rationing for years. Some sections of the French business and political world compromised themselves by collaborating with the German occupiers. So the economy was in need of reconstruction on a more sound basis. A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction. ... Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ...

Post-war French governments, from whichever political side, generally sought rational, efficient, economic development, with the long-term goal of matching the highly-developed and technologically-advanced economy of the United States. The main French tool was indicative central planning, through plans designed by the Commissariat au plan ("Commission for the Plan"). Contrary to the governments of the Soviet Bloc, however, the French government never owned more than a minority of industry, and did not seek to enforce its economic directions in authoritarian ways; instead, it used various incentives. Also, France never ceased to be a mainly capitalist country. During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. ...

Because French industry prior to the Second World War was weak, due to fragmentation, the French government encouraged mergers and the formation of "national champions", large industry groups backed by the government.

Two areas where the French government sought greater control were infrastructure and the transportation system. The French government owned the national railway company SNCF, the national electricity utility EDF, the national natural gas utility GDF, the national airline Air France; phone and postal services were operated as the PTT administration. Interestingly, the government chose to devolve the construction of most autoroutes (freeways) to semi-private companies rather than to administer them itself. Other areas where the French government directly intervened were defense, nuclear and aerospace industries (Aérospatiale). Jump to: navigation, search An SNCF multiple unit. ... Jump to: navigation, search Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. ... Air France Boeing 747 Air France (Compagnie Nationale Air France) is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. Before the take-over of KLM, it was essentially the national airline of France, employing 71,654 people (at January 2005). ... France Télécom (outside of France often spelled France Telecom, without the accents) is the main telecommunication company in France. ... La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte. ... PTT is an acronym that may stand for: Postal Telegraph and Telephone (several); Postal Telephone and Telegraph (several); Public Telegraph and Telephone (several); Public Telephone and Telegraph (several); Post Telefon Telegraph (Germany); Poste, Téléphone et Télécommunications (France); Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone (Iran); Part task... Autoroute is a French word meaning, literally, a motor road, and corresponding to the words motorway or freeway in English. ... The Aérospatiale Corvette first flew in 1970 and went into service in 1974. ...

This development was marked by volontarisme, or the will to overcome all difficulties (War-related devastation, lack of natural resources...) through willpower and ingenuity. For instance, following the 1973 energy crisis, the saying "In France we don't have oil, but we have ideas" was coined. Voluntarism showed an obsession with the modernization of the country, resulting in a variety of ambitious plans imposed by the state. Examples of this trend include the extensive use of nuclear energy (close to 80% of French electrical consumption), the Minitel, an early online system for the masses, and the TGV, a high-speed rail network. (Redirected from 1973 energy crisis) United States, drivers of vehicles with odd numbered license plates were allowed to purchase gasoline only on odd-numbered days of the month, while drivers with even-numbers were limited to even-numbered days. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... See also Nuclear power for the commercial production of electricty from nuclear energy. ... Minitel 1. ... A Réseau-class 2nd-generation TGV train at Marseille St-Charles station. ... Japanese Shinkansen trains began the development of modern high-speed railways (shown here: West Japan Railway Company 500 Series Shinkansen at Kyoto). ...

The development of French dirigisme coincided with the development of meritocratic technocracy: the École Nationale d'Administration supplied the state with high-level administrators, while leadership positions in industry were staffed with Corps of Mines state engineers and other personnel trained at the École Polytechnique. As the suffix -cracy implies, meritocracy is strictly speaking a system of government based on rule by ability (merit) rather than by wealth or social position. ... Technocracy can refer to: A bureaucratic technocracy (this derogatory use is the most common, and is what the French mean by the phrase). ... The École nationale dadministration (generally known as ENA) is the school where many of France senior officials are instructed. ... The Corps of Mines is the foremost of the great technical corps of the French state. ... The cadets of Polytechnique rushed to the defense of Paris against the foreign armies in 1814. ...

During the 1945-1975 period, France experienced unprecedented economic growth (4.5% on average) and a demographic boom, leading to the coinage of the term Trente Glorieuses ("Thirty Glorious [years]"). Jump to: navigation, search 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Accumulated GDP growth for various countries. ... Demography is the study of human population dynamics. ...

Dirigisme flourished under the center-right governments of Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. In those times, the policy was viewed as a middle way between the American policy of little state involvement and the Soviet policy of total state control. In 1981, Socialist president François Mitterrand was elected, promising even more state intervention in the economy; his government soon nationalized industries and banks. However in 1983 the initial bad economic results forced the government to renounce dirigisme and start the era of rigueur ("rigour"). Subsequent governments never have considered economic dirigisme again, though some of its traits remain. In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Jump to: navigation, search General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (listen ♫) (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970), in France commonly referred to as général de Gaulle or Le Général, was a French military leader and statesman. ... Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (July 5, 1911 – April 2, 1974) was President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The emblem of the French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste or PS), founded in 1969, is the main opposition party in France. ... Jump to: navigation, search François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996; pronunciation [â–¶]) was a French politician. ... Nationalization or Nationalisation is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bibliography

• Cohen, Élie. Le Colbertisme "high tech" : économie des Telecom et du Grand Projet (Paris : Hachette, 1992) ISBN 2010193431.

See also

• Mixed economy