to 1975. In 1944, DeGaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy, which was followed by 30 years of unprecedented growth. The wartime damage was extensive and expectations of large reparations from defeated Germany did not happen. The United States helped revive the French economy with the Marshall Plan (1948–1951), whereby it gave France $2.3 billion with no repayment. France was the second largest recipient after Britain. The total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953 amounted to $4.9 billion. It provided urgently needed funding for modernizing the transport systems, electricity generation, and basic industries, especially cement, coal, and steel. It required a modernization of French industrial and managerial systems, free trade, and friendly economic relations with West Germany. The French economy grew rapidly like economies of other developed countries within the framework of the Marshall Plan such as West Germany, Italy, and Japan. These decades of economic prosperity combined high productivity with high average wages and high consumption, and were also characterised by a highly developed system of social benefits. According to various studies, the real purchasing power of the average French worker's salary went up by 170% between 1950 and 1975, while overall private consumption increased by 174% in the period 1950-74. The French standard of living, which had been damaged by both World Wars, became one of the world's highest. The population also became far more urbanized; many rural départements experienced a population decline while the larger metropolitan areas grew considerably, especially that of Paris. Ownership of various household goods and amenities increased considerably, while the wages of the French working class rose significantly as the economy became more prosperous. As noted by the historians Jean Blondel and Donald Geoffrey Charlton in 1974, If it is still the case that France lags in the number of its telephones, working-class housing has improved beyond recognition and the various 'gadgets' of the consumer society–from television to motor cars–are now purchased by the working class on an even more avid basis than in other Western European countries. The worldwide 1973 oil crisis slowed down its explosive growth. Thus, the mid-1970s marked the end of the period. Thomas Piketty describes the Trente Glorieuses as an exceptional "catch up" period following the world wars. He cites statistics showing that normal growth in wealthy countries is about 1.5–2%, whereas in Europe