François Perroux on European integration: “L’application aveugle d’une ‘orthodoxie”

Abstract

In the debate for and against European integration economists had an important part in so far as from the beginning European integration took on an essentially economic connotation. Among them Francois Perroux had a rather original position: he based his critique of European economic integration on a series of analytical tools that he developed in his critical reflection on the limits of a part of the dominant economic theory. The link between Perroux’s criticism of neoclassical economics and his position on European integration is particularly interesting because it makes Perroux’s position original and provocative among the various reflections on Europe and it gives us some important hints to further reflect on the role of economic theory and especially on the important tie between economic theory and policy.