Recent history Main article: Economic history of France Since its inception, the economic power of France has often been linked to demography. Under Louis XIV, France was the most populous country of Europe and, therefore, the economically dominant. The country was, however, hampered by the structural weakness of their commercial and military fleet. While the first industrial revolution began in England in the eighteenth century (which allows you to overcome France), and then spreads to the Benelux, France knew only industrial boom during the second half of the nineteenth century, thanks to economic liberalization under the Second Empire and the beginning of the Third Republic. At the end of the century, France was a prosperous and powerful, which has passed the economic power of England and continued to extend and expand its settlements. In 1880, it produced 10 of world production.Then, its economic power gradually weakens as a result of poor economic policies and a low population growth of its agricultural population. The two world wars of the twentieth century, then, decolonization, will reduce the economic weight of Europe in general throughout the world, and France in particular. Between 1946 and 1973 France experienced a period of strong growth (averaging 5 per year) than the economist Jean Fourasti classified Thirty Glorioso. This strong growth was mainly due to a very substantial periods of work and a strong increase in productivity. Increased productivity due to technological upgrading for the superpower, the United States because the French economy had much economic backwardness. In 1950, the average income of a Frenchman stood at just over half that of an American (55 ), while that reached the four-fifths in 1973.The final recovery coincided with the end of the period of strong growth. The task force recently growth in this period, despite the baby boom, because the labor force to study longer than before. The French economy has benefited from European Common Market, for 1957. France was one of the founding countries of the European Union in the fifties. The French enjoy a high standard of living, but its meaning is to live a period of crisis since the end of the Thirty Glorious. For a long time, this “crisis” did not prevent significant growth, and maintain enviable global economy, but since the 1980s, the themes of “decline” and the fear of foreign competition (globalization, including integration European) have been much more important, while economic indicators are increasingly alarming.In particular, unemployment has increased and, despite a decline from 1997, the average rate of unemployment remains more than 3 points of the G7 countries. In France in 1990, GDP per capita in PPP represented 75 of GDP per capita in the United States, compared to only 70 in 2006. For years, France has remained the fourth largest economy, and the difference with Britain (2 346 million in 2006) has been low. However, excess in this ranking by China, and later by India, is inevitable. Some macroeconomic statistics show a significant decrease in part of international economic classifications of the twenty-five years. In 1980, France was one of the world’s richest countries: GDP per capita was the sixth largest in the world behind the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Iceland and Canada. It was over some economic rivals such as Germany, Japan or the United Kingdom.The standard of living in the Scandinavian countries was also below the level of French. The 1980s were a relative economic decline. In 1994, GDP per capita of the French was the thirteenth in the world. Some, like Germany or Japan, have seen a significant rise. Others have fallen even stronger than the French economy, like Canada (which is recovering for 1995). The next decade was a steeperdecline. In 2004, GDP per capita in France is the 16th or 17th largest in the world. During this period, countries like the UK (long considered to be in crisis), Ireland (once one of the poorest countries in the European Union), following the liberalization of their economies, have significantly increased their level of life. In 1999, the introduction of the single currency under the desire for closer economic cooperation in most countries of the EMU.In 2005 the French public debt exceeds the 60 of GDP, is to say a cost equivalent to the revenue of income tax.