Rapid economic development in the defeated nations of Germany, Japan, and Italy was largely credited to the Marshall Plan, the U.S. international credit and aid program that also helped consolidate the Western (North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO) military alliance. Beyond Europe and Japan, this apparent economic and political success seemed to validate President Truman’s 1949 “point four” vision to win the ensuing Cold War: improving living standards by helping governments in underdeveloped countries acquire industrial and agricultural equipment and skills. Because the USSR was perceived to be the dominant threat to world stability, the development programs run by various agencies at the time eventually supported many state-led and even socialist development programs in countries such as Nehru’s India that kept a political distance from the Soviet Union.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 1294