Tradition and innovation at the turn of the twentieth century

Alain Béraud (1) , Claire Silvant (2, 3)

1 THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications
2 TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique
3 UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2

This chapter is devoted to the developments of economic thought in France between 1870 and the First World War. After several decades of institutional and intellectual dominance, liberal thinking is on the wane and is being challenged from many sides. The creation of new academic journals, and the expansion of political economy in French universities largely benefits to a new generation of economists who are open to protectionist and social ideas, and turned towards empiricism and history. Charles Gide (1847–1932), Paul Cauwès (1843–1917), Clément Juglar (1819–1905) and Albert Aftalion (1874–1956), among others, embody these new insights. The chapter concludes with a presentation of the decisive contributions to economic analysis of some engineers-economists – Clément Colson, Marcel Lenoir, Maurice Potron - and mathematicians – Joseph Bertrand, Louis Bachelier - over the period.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Economies et finances

Alain Béraud, Claire Silvant. Tradition and innovation at the turn of the twentieth century. Faccarello, Gilbert; Silvant, Claire. A history of economic thought in France. Vol. 2, The long nineteenth century, 1, Routledge, pp.162-194, 2023, ⟨10.4324/9780429202407-8⟩. ⟨hal-04261264⟩