¡Bienvenido, Míster Marshall! La ayuda económica americana y la economía española en la década de 1950

What was the impact of American aid to Spain during the 1950s? This article revisits this question, addressing it from a rather different perspective to the focus on the relief of supply bottlenecks that dominates the existing Spanish economic historiography. It suggests that there is a prima facie case for the aid programme to have had a positive effect on private agents' expectations. The American backing, as part of the process of international acceptance of the Franco regime, may have provided a «commitment technology» that solved problems of credibility, which would have otherwise hindered investment and hence the resumption of economic growth. The paper concludes with an agenda for further research.