France's Economy
Indicative Planning in Postwar France
How France's Planning Commission, led first by Jean Monnet, set targets and coordinated investment without Soviet-style command, and how it differed from India's plans.
After WWII, France created a Planning Commission (Commissariat général du Plan) in 1946.
Jean Monnet
The first plan was led by Jean Monnet, who later helped found European integration.
Indicative planning
- Plans set targets for key sectors like coal, steel, electricity and transport.
- Unlike Soviet planning, they were indicative: guiding private and public firms through information and incentives, not commands.
Tools
- Credit directed by state-controlled banks.
- Public enterprises in energy and transport.
- Consultation with business and unions.
Results
Planning helped coordinate reconstruction and investment in the Trente Glorieuses.
Decline
Planning became less important from the 1980s with market reforms and European integration; the commission was replaced in 2006.
Comparison with India
India’s Five-Year Plans (1951-2017) were more directive, with a large public sector and licences. NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015.
The first French plan set targets for steel output, and state banks directed credit to steelmakers to meet them.
French planning was indicative, guiding rather than commanding.
- France created a Planning Commission in 1946 under Jean Monnet.
- Plans were indicative, not commanding.
- They coordinated postwar investment.
- India's plans were more directive.
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