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Inflation without politics: how French prices outsmarted bullets, 1938-1949

Author

Listed:
  • Baubeau, Patrice
  • Teixeira, Mateo

Abstract

This article addresses the growing gap in the literature between qualitative data on prices and money in France around World War II, and the available CPI. It gathers archival price data to calculate a new CPI for 1938-1949, incorporating both official and black-market prices. The study demonstrates the adequacy of available sources and the robustness of the new CPI, both in its construction and when compared to contemporary analyses. Three key findings are that France did not experience exponential price acceleration; that dictatorship (1940-1944) was no more effective at price control than democracy (1945-1949); and that the 1944-1945 wage increases had a minor impact on inflation, questioning the price-wage loop explanation of France’s post-war inflation.

Suggested Citation

  • Baubeau, Patrice & Teixeira, Mateo, 2024. "Inflation without politics: how French prices outsmarted bullets, 1938-1949," MPRA Paper 121621, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Aug 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:121621
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/121621/1/MPRA_paper_121621.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inflation; Prices; Black markets; Repression; Politics; Public statistics; History; Political economy; France; World War 2;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P4 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems
    • P44 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - National Income, Product, and Expenditure; Money; Inflation
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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