It was a shortage that coincided with a time when both the French population graph was suffering from the "hollow classes" (the children not born during the Second World War) and resurgent West Germany was making her first bid for world export markets. The result was serious inflation and loss of productivity; the latter estimated conservatively even by economists of the "hawk" faction to have run at three to four milliard (new) francs per year, representing an almost greater strain to the French economy than the actual military costs.

XREF: Connects to broader economic history of post-WWII reconstruction and the 'hollow classes' demographic gap affecting workforce availability.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1636