More attention was paid to the quality of production in France
at the time of Rene Coty. Charles Deschanel was then the financial minister. He
stressed that workmanship and quality were more important than quantity for
industrial production. It would be necessary to produce quality goods for the
international market to compete with those produced in other countries. The
French economy needed a larger share of the international market to balance its
import and export trade. French industrial and agricultural
production was still inadequate to meet the immediate needs of the people, let
alone long-ranged developments. Essential imports had stretched the national
credit to the breaking point. Rents were tightly controlled, but the extreme
inflation affected general population most severely through the cost of food.
Food costs took as much as 80 percent of the workers’ income. Wages, it is true,
had risen. Extensive family allowances and benefits were paid by the state, and
there was full-time and overtime employment. Taken together, these factors
enabled the working class to exist but allowed them no sense of security. In
this precarious (不稳定的) and discouraging situation, workmen were willing to work
overseas for higher wages. The government was reluctant to let
workers leave the country. It was feared this immigration of workers would
deplete the labor force. The lack of qualified workers might hinder the
improvement in the quality of industrial products produced. Qualified workers
employed abroad would only increase the quantity of quality goods produced in
foreign countries. Also the quantity of quality goods produced in France would
not be able to increase as part of its qualified labor force moved to other
countries. The French government was reluctant to let the workers leave the country because it would hinder ______ .