Word: reynaud
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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When effervescent Paul Reynaud became French Minister of Finance last November, France was fast slipping into an economic collapse that, following close after the Munich disaster, might have destroyed French democracy. Unemployment had increased 40,000 in a year (to 367,000) as production dropped to 25% below the 1930 level; one out of three dinky French freight cars was idle; sales of manufactured goods abroad had halved; industrialists said they saw no chance for profits under Popular Front reforms. Worst of all, the savings of millions of frugal Frenchmen were endangered by an unchecked flight of gold. Drastic measures...
...years Paul Reynaud's Jeremiah-like prophecies of doom have earned him hatred from the Left and suspicion from the Right. In 1923 he pleaded for an understanding with Germany and opposed the French occupation of the Ruhr. An antiCommunist, he has long urged closer trade relations with Russia. Last September, before he switched from the Ministry of Justice to Finance, he almost broke up the Daladier Cabinet by his opposition to Appeasement...
When he became Finance Minister, the Daladier Government was at the height of its unpopularity with the Left, and smart Rightist Paul Reynaud had nothing to lose by promoting drastic measures for which the Premier would be chiefly blamed. He outlined a "threeyear plan" for return to "a liberal-capitalist economy" by stimulating private industry. The 40-hour week, darling of former Premier Blum's Popular Front, was abolished. The ordinary budget (exclusive of emergency arms expenditures) was balanced by increasing direct and indirect taxes ($265,000,000 and slashing expenses, 40,000 surplus State Railway workers alone being...
...less important than the Premier's defense was a long speech by Paul Reynaud, Finance Minister, author of the recent unpopular series of decrees reducing governmental expenses (by cutting public works appropriations and War veterans' pensions) and increasing income taxation. Claiming that France had already benefited by his laws, he pointed out that as a result of the rise in the value of Government bonds, a gain of $352,420,000 had accrued to government bondholders. This showed increased confidence in French finances which was also reflected in the fact that in five weeks Finance Minister Reynaud...
...thought it was a good sign that there were 560,000,000 more francs in French savings banks during November 1938, than November 1937. In 1936 the Government had to borrow 30,000,000,000 francs to meet its deficit, in 1937, 40,000,000,000. This year M. Reynaud said he would get by with only a 35,000,000,000 franc loan. The Finance Minister summed up optimistically. "We are entering upon an era of rehabilitation of the public finances...