Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cloudsweeper99, post: 1120073, member: 3011&quot;]I should have made it more clear.&nbsp; The money contributed through the Marshall Plan was &quot;refunded&quot; to pay for the war, so the net impact was zero.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>&quot;Effects in Germany</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>The West German economic recovery was partly due to the economic aid provided by the Marshall Plan, but mainly to the currency reform of 1948 which replaced the German Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark as legal tender, halting rampant inflation. This act to strengthen the German economy had been explicitly forbidden during the two years that the occupation directive JCS 1067 was in effect. The Allied dismantling of the West German coal and steel industry finally ended in 1950.&nbsp; Contrary to popular belief, the Marshall Plan, which was extended to also include the newly formed West Germany in 1949, was not the main force behind the German recovery.[18] Had that been the case, other countries such as Great Britain and France (which both received more economic assistance than Germany) should have experienced the same phenomenon. In fact, the amount of monetary aid received by Germany through the Marshall Plan was by far overshadowed by the amount the Germans meanwhile had to pay as reparations and by the charges the Allies made on the Germans for the cost of occupation ($2.4 billion per year).&nbsp; Even so, in Germany the myth of the Marshall Plan is still alive. Many Germans believe that Germany was the exclusive beneficiary of the plan, that it consisted of a free gift of vast sums of money, and that it was solely responsible for the German economic recovery in the 1950s.&quot;</i></p><p><br /></p><p>I like Matt T. a lot, but will never rely on him for investment or economic wisdom.&nbsp; If you wish to, that is your right.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in