The Blind Decades

France is often described as one of the last Western economies unable to reform itself in the face of globalization. Yet its economy has not fallen by the wayside and has even resisted the great recession that began in 2008. By interlinking historical, economic, and political factors and by comparing France with other nations, this book explains the puzzle presented by the development of France. Understanding France's economy requires downplaying the usual policy injunctions—demands for less state control and less rigidity in the labor market—and instead stressing the importance of constructing a long-term industrial strategy.

Philippe Askenazy is Senior Researcher at the Paris School of Economics and Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research. He is the author of La croissance moderne (2002) and Les désordres du travail (2004), among other books.
 
Richard Freeman holds the Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University and directs the Science and Engineering Workforce Project at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Foreword
Introduction 
Chapter 1. Four Decades of an Industrial Revolution 
Chapter 2. 1974–1981: The Creation of Mass Unemployment 
Chapter 3. 1981–1986: The Socialists Try 
Chapter 4. 1986–1993: From Hard to Soft Economic Liberalism 
Chapter 5. 1993–2002 : “New” Effective Policies? 
Chapter 6. 2002–2007: The Decay of French Economic Policy 
Chapter 7. 2007–2013: From Optimism to the Great Recession 
Chapter 8. The State of France: Four Decades after the First Oil Crisis 
Conclusion 
Index