<P> Skidelsky devotes ten pages of his 2009 book Keynes: The Return of the Master to a comparison of the golden age to what he calls the Washington Consensus period, which he dates as spanning 1980--2009 (1973--1980 being a transitional period): </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Metric </Th> <Th> Golden Age </Th> <Th> Washington Consensus </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Average global growth </Td> <Td> 4.8% </Td> <Td> 3.2% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Unemployment (US) </Td> <Td> 4.8% </Td> <Td> 6.1% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Unemployment (France) </Td> <Td> 1.2% </Td> <Td> 9.5% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Unemployment (Germany) </Td> <Td> 3.1% </Td> <Td> 7.5% </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Unemployment (Great Britain) </Td> <Td> 1.6% </Td> <Td> 7.4% </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Metric </Th> <Th> Golden Age </Th> <Th> Washington Consensus </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Average global growth </Td> <Td> 4.8% </Td> <Td> 3.2% </Td> </Tr>

What was the major financial change between post-world war ii borrowers and borrowers after 1970