"The Assembly must understand," said France's Finance Minister René Pleven, "that we cannot ask aid abroad without first putting our house in order ourselves." After a searching session, the Assembly understood. It approved: 1) a devaluation of the franc (119 to the dollar, instead of 50 to the dollar); 2) a $550,000,000 loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank; 3) French participation in the Bretton Woods agreement.
Devaluation had been long overdue. The franc's official value had been far out of line with its actual purchasing power in foreign markets; French imports and exports had suffered. But Minister Pleven, fearful lest domestic prices...