El Plan de Estabilización español de 1959: Juan Sardá Dexeus y la economía social de mercado

The Spanish Stabilization Plan of 1959, contained in the Law of July 21, has been widely studied by prominent Spanish economists, although there are few studies that analyze in depth its ideological roots. To explore this question, this article examines the figure of Juan Sarda Dexeus, chief architect of the implementation of the plan, and the influence he received from the Social Market Economy —whose ideas were used to design both the German Economic Plan of 1948 in Europe, as well as that of the French in 1958—, focusing on the role of monetary policy to achieve price stability in the Spanish plan reforms. After comparing both economic reform plans, we conclude by noting the strong similarities between them. KEY Classification-JEL: B29. B31. E65. O21