Dirigisme

Dirigisme is an economic policy in which the state actively guides investment, production, and development while much of the economy remains privately owned.

Indicative planning: A planning system that sets economic targets and coordinates decisions without legally binding private firms. It is a central tool for aligning private investment with state priorities.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert: A French minister under Louis XIV who promoted state-directed commerce, manufacturing, and fiscal administration. His policies became an enduring historical reference for French economic direction.
French postwar economic growth: The rapid expansion and industrial modernization of France in the decades after World War II. This period is the best-known setting for dirigiste policies in practice.
Laissez-faire: An economic doctrine favoring minimal government intervention in markets. It marks the opposite end of the spectrum in state involvement in investment and production.
Nationalization: The transfer of privately owned assets or enterprises into public ownership. Dirigisme can steer firms without the direct ownership nationalization entails.
Monnet Plan: France’s postwar modernization plan, launched in 1947 to expand and modernize key sectors. It exemplified indicative planning during dirigisme’s formative postwar period.
French national champions: Large French firms supported by the state to compete in strategic domestic and international markets. State coordination and support helped build firms in industries deemed strategically important.
Command economy: An economic system in which central authorities direct production and allocate major resources. Dirigisme guides a largely private economy rather than centrally commanding most production.
Industrial policy: Government measures designed to shape the structure, capabilities, or performance of industries. It supplies targeted tools for directing sectors toward national development goals.
French Fourth Republic: The French republic that governed from 1946 to 1958, amid reconstruction and political instability. Its governments built many institutions used to coordinate postwar economic modernization.

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GaullismRelated: Postwar Gaullist governments used planning and public investment to modernize the French economy.