one area where, at least until the 1990s, governments differed more substantially in their approach is the use of financial resources in industrial policy. A good example of this is provided by the French government's 'massive program of accelerated investment in nuclear power' in 1974, which provided the the basis for that country to become more self-sufficient in energy production (Heidenheimer et al., 1990:140). as mentioned,theories such as shonfield (1965) and Schmidt (2003) have suggested that countries can be distinguished according to the extent to which their governments play an 'activist' role in economic policy, including their use of state subsidies for particular industries and firms. According to their approach, nations such as France and Japan, where governments used their power over fanancial resources extensively to support particular industries, can be contrasted with more 'laissez-faire' approaches as adopted in nations such as the UK and USA