History of Economic Thought in France

Introduction

Traditionally, there has been a long and sustained interest in studying the history of economic ideas in France. Interest appeared to wane after World War II, but in recent decades, there has been a marked renaissance of interest and research in the contributions of French-speaking authors. Drawing on the flow of recent research, this book presents a new assessment of the history of political economy in France incorporating both novel presentations of some traditional subjects and topics that are not usually studied.

Volume One: The Age of Enlightenment

This first volume deals with the history of political economy in France in the Age of Enlightenment. After presenting a kind of review of the troops and some main developments inherited from preceding centuries, the chapters are devoted to P. de Boisguilbert's foundation of liberal political economy; J. Law's monetary theory and policy; the many strands of commerce politique; the theoretical developments of F. Quesnay and the physiocratic movement; and A.-R.-J. Turgot's, J.-J.-L. Graslin's and M.-J.-A.-N. Caritat de Condorcet's sensationist political economy.

The volume then examines some political critiques of liberal political economy and goes on with a study of the first attempts to quantify economic variables and to formalise the economic discourse. It concludes with a chapter on the importance of translations into French of books published abroad, and with the main institutional and theoretical developments which happened during the French Revolution.

Target Audience

A History of Economic Thought in France will be invaluable reading for advanced students and researchers of the history of economic thought, political economy, intellectual history and French history.