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Macroeconomic Performance in the Bretton Woods Era and After

Author

Listed:
  • Gavin Cameron
  • Chris Wallace

Abstract

During the Bretton Woods era, OECD countries grew at historically unprecedented rates. This Golden Age has many possible explanations, ranging from the return to liberal policies in international trade to a backlog of profitable growth opportunities after the neglect of the 1930s and wartime damage. Eichengreen (1996) has argued that the proximate cause of the rapid growth was high investment, and that this high investment was made possible by certain institutions that were particularly well suited to reconstruction and growth. On the domestic side, these institutions led to high investment rates and moderate wage claims. This paper interprets the interaction between unions and firms as a coordination game. The risk-dominant equilibrium is selected via a global game argument. Only small changes to the payoffs are necessary to explain a change in the selected equilibrium and, therefore, the growth slowdown. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Gavin Cameron & Chris Wallace, 2002. "Macroeconomic Performance in the Bretton Woods Era and After," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(4), pages 479-494.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:18:y:2002:i:4:p:479-494
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    Cited by:

    1. Crafts, Nicholas, 2010. "The contribution of new technology to economic growth: lessons from economic history," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 409-440, December.
    2. Crafts, Nicholas, 2011. "The Marshall Plan: A Reality Check," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 49, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Nicholas Crafts & Marco Magnani, 2011. "The Golden Age and the Second Globalization in Italy," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 17, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Gavin Cameron, 2005. "Economic Policies for Growth and Employment," Economics Series Working Papers 249, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Crafts, Nicholas & O’Rourke, Kevin Hjortshøj, 2014. "Twentieth Century Growth*This research has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement no. 249546.," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 6, pages 263-346, Elsevier.
    6. Crafts, Nicholas & Toniolo, Gianni, 2008. "European Economic Growth, 1950-2005: An Overview," CEPR Discussion Papers 6863, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Christopher Allsopp & David Vines, 2015. "Monetary and fiscal policy in the Great Moderation and the Great Recession," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 31(2), pages 134-167.
    8. Alka obadić & Sanja Porić, 2008. "The coordination between education and employment policies," EFZG Working Papers Series 0802, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

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