Marshall Plan achieves 60% growth by 1952. Marshall eventually gets the Nobel. Total 14.3B in 1952 $ disbursed. UK 3.2B, France 2.7B, Italy 1.5B, FRG 1.4B. In today’s money, 10x, or about 130B. Or 800B as a fraction of GDP (1.1%). Not counting non-Marshall military aid.
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Historical memory of delicate, context-sensitive surgery of 1948-52, informed by the careful kremlinology of Kennan (who foresaw problems of NATO expansion before he died in 2005 at 101) was lost in the US. Clinton made the fateful errors, smooth-talking himself into delusion.
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The book ends with a loooong cast of characters section, text of Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine speeches, and tons of data and photos. This book really badly wants to be a rich hypertext book.
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So what did I learn of relevance to Post-Covid? I’m tempted to say “nothing.”https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6VjPM5CeWs …
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We can’t try this in 2020. We lack the statesmen/women capable of drawing the right lessons and using this as meaningful precedent for anything. Post 1989 post-history suggests we learned nothing. The Marshall Plan was a rare, lucky success among schemes of its sort.
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And even then, the loose ends and 1990s aftershocks it created scripted out present mess. The Marshall Plan (intended) and NATO (unintended scope creep) eventually led, via a long causal chain, to Trumpism and even Covid response failure. A key cause can’t be a key to the cure.
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tldr of this live-read: If Covid-recovery needs a Marshall Plan style effort, we’re boned. Seek inspiration elsewhere.
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