This book reassesses Western Europe's miraculous economic recovery from World War II and the crisis of 1947. The contributors expose the role of international institutions and contrast the very different national experiences. Their historical analysis has policy relevance--to the debate over the Maastricht Treaty and the Single Market Programme, to the difficulties of adjustment in formerly centrally planned economies, and to reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. This book will be of interest to students of modern European history and to economists.