READ Famous Economists from France

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List of notable or famous economists from France, with bios and photos, including the top economists born in France and even some popular economists who immigrated to France. If you're trying to find out the names of famous French economists then this list is the perfect resource for you. These economists are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known economist from France is included when available.

This list features Pellegrino Rossi, Jean-Claude Trichet and more.

This historic economists from France list can help answer the questions "Who are some French economists of note?" and "Who are the most famous economists from France?" These prominent economists of France may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected French economists.

Use this list of renowned French economists to discover some new economists that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. (56 items)

1

Albert Aftalion Died at 82 (1874-1956) Albert Abram Aftalion was a French Jewish economist. He taught at the Paris University. He co-founded the academic journal Revue économique in 1950 and presided over its board of

2

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune Died at 54 (1727-1781) Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune was a French economist and statesman. Originally considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic liberalism.

3

Antoine Augustin Cournot Died at 76 (1801-1877) Antoine Augustin Cournot was a French philosopher and mathematician who also contributed to the development of economics theory.

4

Antoine de Montchrestien Died at 46 (1575-1621) Antoine de Montchrestien was a French soldier, dramatist, adventurer and economist. Montchrestien was born in Falaise, Normandy. Son of an apothecary named Mauchrestien and orphan at a young ...more

5

Bernard Guerrien age 75 Bernard Guerrien is a French economist and the author of La Théorie des jeux, Dictionnaire d'analyse économique, and La théorie économique néoclassique. ...more

6

Charles Bettelheim Died at 93 (1913-2006) Charles Bettelheim was a French Marxian economist and historian, founder of the Center for the Study of Modes of Industrialization at the EHESS, economic advisor to the governments of several ...more

7

Charles Ganilh Died at 78 (1758-1836) Charles Ganilh was a French economist and politician. He was born at Allanche in Cantal. He was educated for a profession in law and practised as avocat. During the troubled period which ...more

8

Charles Gide Died at 85 (1847-1932) Charles Gide was a leading French economist and historian of economic thought. He was a professor at the University of Bordeaux, at Montpellier, at Université de Paris and finally at ...more

9

Daniel Cohen age 64 Daniel Cohen is a French economist and a professor at the École d'économie de Paris as well as a senior advisor to the bank Lazard.

10

Dominique Guellec Dominique Guellec is a French economist. He formerly held the post of chief economist at the European Patent Office. He is senior economist at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and ...more

11

Dominique Strauss-Kahn age 68 Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn, often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party. ...more

12

Édouard Balladur age 88 Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.

13

Emmanuel Saez age 45 Emmanuel Saez appeared in the 2013 documentary film Inequality for All.

14

Esther Duflo age 45 Esther Duflo is a French economist, Co-Founder and Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, and Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts ...more

15

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac Died at 65 (1715-1780) Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a French philosopher and epistemologist, who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind.

16

François Bourguignon age 72 François Bourguignon is the former Chief Economist of the World Bank. He has been the Director of the Paris School of Economics, and from 1985 to his retirement in 2013 a professor of ...more

17

François de Neufchâteau Died at 78 (1750-1828) Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau was a French statesman, poet, and scientist.

18

François Simiand Died at 62 (1873-1935) François Joseph Charles Simiand was a French sociologist and economist best known as a participant in the Année Sociologique. As a member of the French Historical School of ...more

19

François-Xavier Verschave Died at 60 (1945-2005) François-Xavier Verschave was primarily known as one of the founders of the French NGO Survie, over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term Françafrique, an ...more

20

Frédéric Bastiat Died at 49 (1801-1850) Claude Frédéric Bastiat was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. He was notable for developing the important economic ...more

21

Frédéric Passy Died at 90 (1822-1912) Frédéric Passy was a French economist and a joint winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.

22

Gérard Debreu Died at 83 (1921-2004) Gérard Debreu was a French economist and mathematician, who also came to have United States citizenship. Best known as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, ...more

23

Henri Cernuschi Died at 75 (1821-1896) Henri Cernuschi, was a major French banker, economist and Asian art collector, who started off as an Italian politician in 1848-1850. He was born of wealthy parents at Milan, and was destined ...more

24

Henri Fayol Died at 84 (1841-1925) Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism. He and his colleagues developed this ...more

25

Henri Hauser Died at 80 (1866-1946) Henri Hauser [ozer], Algerian-born French economist, historian, geographer. He was a professor of ancient and medieval history at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, and modern history and ...more

26

Jacques Attali age 74 Jacques Attali is a French economist, writer and senior civil servant. Former adviser to President François Mitterrand and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and ...more

27

Jacques Delors age 92 Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, previously the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office. He is the ...more

28

Jacques Rueff Died at 82 (1896-1978) Jacques Léon Rueff was a French economist and adviser to the French Government. An influential French conservative and free market thinker, Rueff was born the son of a well known Parisian ...more

29

Jean Fourastié Died at 83 (1907-1990) Jean Fourastié was a French economist, notable for having coined the expression Trente Glorieuses to describe the period of prosperity that France experienced from the end of World War II ...more

30

Jean Tirole age 64 Jean Tirole is a French professor of economics. He focuses on industrial organization, game theory, banking and finance, and economics and psychology. In 2014 he was awarded the Nobel Memorial ...more

31

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Died at 64 (1619-1683) Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an ...more

32

Jean-Baptiste Say Died at 65 (1767-1832) Jean-Baptiste Say was a French economist and businessman. He had classically liberal views and argued in favor of competition, free trade, and lifting restraints on business. He is best known ...more

33

Jean-Claude Trichet age 75 Jean-Claude Trichet is a French civil servant who was the president of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International ...more

34

Jean-François Copé age 53 Jean-François Copé is a French politician. He is Mayor of Meaux, Deputy for the 6th constituency of Seine-et-Marne, and acts as President of the Union for a Popular Movement Group ...more

35

Jean-Jacques Laffont Died at 57 (1947-2004) Jean-Jacques Marcel Laffont was a French economist specializing in public economics and information economics. Educated at the University of Toulouse and the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et ...more

36

Joseph Marie Terray Died at 63 (1715-1778) Joseph Marie Terray was a Controller-General of Finances during the reign of Louis XV of France, an agent of fiscal reform.

37

Jules Dupuit Died at 62 (1804-1866) Jules Dupuit was an Italian-born French civil engineer and economist. He was born in Fossano, Italy then under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. At the age of ten he emigrated to France with his ...more

38

Léon Faucher Died at 51 (1803-1854) Léonard Joseph Faucher was a French politician and economist.

39

Léon Walras Died at 76 (1834-1910) Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras was a French mathematical economist. He formulated the marginal theory of value and pioneered the development of general equilibrium theory.

40

Maurice Allais Died at 99 (1911-2010) Maurice Félix Charles Allais was a French economist, and was the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and ...more

41

Maurice Block Died at 85 (1816-1901) Maurice Block; 18 February 1816 – 9 January 1901 was a German-French statistician and economist. Block was born in Berlin of Jewish parents. He studied at the University of Bonn and the ...more

42

Michel Aglietta age 80 Michel Aglietta is a French economist, currently Professor of Economics at the University of Paris X: Nanterre. Michel Aglietta is a scientific counsellor at CEPII, a member of the University ...more

43

Mohamed A. El-Erian age 59 Mohamed A. El-Erian is Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, a multinational financial services company. He is the former CEO and co-Chief Investment Officer at PIMCO, a global investment firm and ...more

44

Olivier de Bandt age 58

45

Pellegrino Rossi Died at 61 (1787-1848) Pellegrino Rossi was an Italian economist, politician and jurist. He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the Minister of Justice in the government of the Papal States, ...more

46

Philippe Aghion age 61 Philippe Mario Aghion is a French economist. Aghion was born in Paris, the son of Gaby and Raymond Aghion. He is Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University and an invited ...more

47

Pierre de Boissieu age 72 Pierre de Boissieu is a French diplomat and former French ambassador to the European Union. He was the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union from 1 December 2009 until 26 June ...more

48

Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play Died at 76 (1806-1882) Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play was a French engineer, sociologist and economist.

49

Pierre Leroux Died at 74 (1797-1871) Pierre Henri Leroux, French philosopher and political economist, was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.

50

Pierre Louis Roederer Died at 81 (1754-1835) Comte Pierre Louis Roederer was a French politician, economist, and historian, politically active in the era of the French Revolution and First French Republic. Roederer's son, Baron Antoine ...more

1 Albert Aftalion Died at 82 (1874-1956) Albert Abram Aftalion was a French Jewish economist. He taught at the Paris University. He co-founded the academic journal Revue économique in 1950 and presided over its board of

2 Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune Died at 54 (1727-1781) Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune was a French economist and statesman. Originally considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic liberalism.

3 Antoine Augustin Cournot Died at 76 (1801-1877) Antoine Augustin Cournot was a French philosopher and mathematician who also contributed to the development of economics theory.

4 Antoine de Montchrestien Died at 46 (1575-1621) Antoine de Montchrestien was a French soldier, dramatist, adventurer and economist. Montchrestien was born in Falaise, Normandy. Son of an apothecary named Mauchrestien and orphan at a young ...more

5 Bernard Guerrien age 75 Bernard Guerrien is a French economist and the author of La Théorie des jeux, Dictionnaire d'analyse économique, and La théorie économique néoclassique. ...more

6 Charles Bettelheim Died at 93 (1913-2006) Charles Bettelheim was a French Marxian economist and historian, founder of the Center for the Study of Modes of Industrialization at the EHESS, economic advisor to the governments of several ...more

7 Charles Ganilh Died at 78 (1758-1836) Charles Ganilh was a French economist and politician. He was born at Allanche in Cantal. He was educated for a profession in law and practised as avocat. During the troubled period which ...more

8 Charles Gide Died at 85 (1847-1932) Charles Gide was a leading French economist and historian of economic thought. He was a professor at the University of Bordeaux, at Montpellier, at Université de Paris and finally at ...more

9 Daniel Cohen age 64 Daniel Cohen is a French economist and a professor at the École d'économie de Paris as well as a senior advisor to the bank Lazard.

10 Dominique Guellec Dominique Guellec is a French economist. He formerly held the post of chief economist at the European Patent Office. He is senior economist at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and ...more

11 Dominique Strauss-Kahn age 68 Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn, often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party. ...more

12 Édouard Balladur age 88 Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.

13 Emmanuel Saez age 45 Emmanuel Saez appeared in the 2013 documentary film Inequality for All.

14 Esther Duflo age 45 Esther Duflo is a French economist, Co-Founder and Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, and Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts ...more

15 Étienne Bonnot de Condillac Died at 65 (1715-1780) Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a French philosopher and epistemologist, who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind.

16 François Bourguignon age 72 François Bourguignon is the former Chief Economist of the World Bank. He has been the Director of the Paris School of Economics, and from 1985 to his retirement in 2013 a professor of ...more

17 François de Neufchâteau Died at 78 (1750-1828) Nicolas-Louis François de Neufchâteau was a French statesman, poet, and scientist.

18 François Simiand Died at 62 (1873-1935) François Joseph Charles Simiand was a French sociologist and economist best known as a participant in the Année Sociologique. As a member of the French Historical School of ...more

19 François-Xavier Verschave Died at 60 (1945-2005) François-Xavier Verschave was primarily known as one of the founders of the French NGO Survie, over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term Françafrique, an ...more

20 Frédéric Bastiat Died at 49 (1801-1850) Claude Frédéric Bastiat was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. He was notable for developing the important economic ...more

21 Frédéric Passy Died at 90 (1822-1912) Frédéric Passy was a French economist and a joint winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.

22 Gérard Debreu Died at 83 (1921-2004) Gérard Debreu was a French economist and mathematician, who also came to have United States citizenship. Best known as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, ...more

23 Henri Cernuschi Died at 75 (1821-1896) Henri Cernuschi, was a major French banker, economist and Asian art collector, who started off as an Italian politician in 1848-1850. He was born of wealthy parents at Milan, and was destined ...more

24 Henri Fayol Died at 84 (1841-1925) Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and director of mines who developed a general theory of business administration that is often called Fayolism. He and his colleagues developed this ...more

25 Henri Hauser Died at 80 (1866-1946) Henri Hauser [ozer], Algerian-born French economist, historian, geographer. He was a professor of ancient and medieval history at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, and modern history and ...more

26 Jacques Attali age 74 Jacques Attali is a French economist, writer and senior civil servant. Former adviser to President François Mitterrand and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and ...more

27 Jacques Delors age 92 Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, previously the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office. He is the ...more

28 Jacques Rueff Died at 82 (1896-1978) Jacques Léon Rueff was a French economist and adviser to the French Government. An influential French conservative and free market thinker, Rueff was born the son of a well known Parisian ...more

29 Jean Fourastié Died at 83 (1907-1990) Jean Fourastié was a French economist, notable for having coined the expression Trente Glorieuses to describe the period of prosperity that France experienced from the end of World War II ...more

30 Jean Tirole age 64 Jean Tirole is a French professor of economics. He focuses on industrial organization, game theory, banking and finance, and economics and psychology. In 2014 he was awarded the Nobel Memorial ...more

31 Jean-Baptiste Colbert Died at 64 (1619-1683) Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an ...more

32 Jean-Baptiste Say Died at 65 (1767-1832) Jean-Baptiste Say was a French economist and businessman. He had classically liberal views and argued in favor of competition, free trade, and lifting restraints on business. He is best known ...more

33 Jean-Claude Trichet age 75 Jean-Claude Trichet is a French civil servant who was the president of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International ...more

34 Jean-François Copé age 53 Jean-François Copé is a French politician. He is Mayor of Meaux, Deputy for the 6th constituency of Seine-et-Marne, and acts as President of the Union for a Popular Movement Group ...more

35 Jean-Jacques Laffont Died at 57 (1947-2004) Jean-Jacques Marcel Laffont was a French economist specializing in public economics and information economics. Educated at the University of Toulouse and the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et ...more

36 Joseph Marie Terray Died at 63 (1715-1778) Joseph Marie Terray was a Controller-General of Finances during the reign of Louis XV of France, an agent of fiscal reform.

37 Jules Dupuit Died at 62 (1804-1866) Jules Dupuit was an Italian-born French civil engineer and economist. He was born in Fossano, Italy then under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. At the age of ten he emigrated to France with his ...more

38 Léon Faucher Died at 51 (1803-1854) Léonard Joseph Faucher was a French politician and economist.

39 Léon Walras Died at 76 (1834-1910) Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras was a French mathematical economist. He formulated the marginal theory of value and pioneered the development of general equilibrium theory.

40 Maurice Allais Died at 99 (1911-2010) Maurice Félix Charles Allais was a French economist, and was the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and ...more

41 Maurice Block Died at 85 (1816-1901) Maurice Block; 18 February 1816 – 9 January 1901 was a German-French statistician and economist. Block was born in Berlin of Jewish parents. He studied at the University of Bonn and the ...more

42 Michel Aglietta age 80 Michel Aglietta is a French economist, currently Professor of Economics at the University of Paris X: Nanterre. Michel Aglietta is a scientific counsellor at CEPII, a member of the University ...more

43 Mohamed A. El-Erian age 59 Mohamed A. El-Erian is Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, a multinational financial services company. He is the former CEO and co-Chief Investment Officer at PIMCO, a global investment firm and ...more

44 Olivier de Bandt age 58

45 Pellegrino Rossi Died at 61 (1787-1848) Pellegrino Rossi was an Italian economist, politician and jurist. He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the Minister of Justice in the government of the Papal States, ...more

46 Philippe Aghion age 61 Philippe Mario Aghion is a French economist. Aghion was born in Paris, the son of Gaby and Raymond Aghion. He is Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University and an invited ...more

47 Pierre de Boissieu age 72 Pierre de Boissieu is a French diplomat and former French ambassador to the European Union. He was the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union from 1 December 2009 until 26 June ...more

48 Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play Died at 76 (1806-1882) Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play was a French engineer, sociologist and economist.

49 Pierre Leroux Died at 74 (1797-1871) Pierre Henri Leroux, French philosopher and political economist, was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.

50 Pierre Louis Roederer Died at 81 (1754-1835) Comte Pierre Louis Roederer was a French politician, economist, and historian, politically active in the era of the French Revolution and First French Republic. Roederer's son, Baron Antoine ...more