The Marshall Plan is invoked wheneverpolicy makers contemplate large-scale foreign aid. A cursoryGoogle search turns up 'A Marshall Plan forAfrica,' 'A Marshall Plan for Haiti," 'AMarshall Plan for Eastern Europe,' and 'A MarshallPlan for the East.' The foreign aid program officiallyknown as the European Recovery Program (ERP), but foreverassociated with the name of Secretary of State George C.Marshall, is widely regarded as a singular success. Over thefour years from 1948 through 1951, the United Statestransferred $13 billion (roughly $115 billion at currentprices) to the war-torn nations of Europe. The transferrepresented approximately two per cent of U.S. GrossDomestic Product (GDP) and roughly the same share of thecollective GDP of the recipient countries. The recipients,seemingly on the brink of economic collapse, mounted astrong recovery. Industrial production in the recipientEuropean countries leapt from just 87 per cent of pre-SecondWorld War levels in 1947 to fully 135 per cent in 1951, a 55per cent jump in just four years. At least as importantly,the resumption of growth was sustained. Europe embarked on a'golden age' of economic growth that spanned aperiod of decades. No wonder, then, that the Marshall Planis widely regarded as the most striking historical exampleof a successful large-scale foreign aid program. And nowonder that there have been repeated attempts to identifythe key ingredients of its success in the hope that thismight be replicated in other times and places.
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