French Economic Policy

Abstract

This chapter explores contemporary economic policy and state–market relations in France against the backdrop of comparative political economy debates about interventionism in the economy and international political economy debates about capital mobility and policy autonomy. Charting contemporary theoretical and empirical developments in the French case and beyond, the chapter explores how to situate economic policy within institutional and ideational context, and how interests can be brought into explanation. These three “i”s, it argues, represent different but not mutually exclusive ways to explore economic policy autonomy amidst international liberalization. It argues that insights from each of the three “i”s’ literatures have enhanced understandings of French economic policy, and informed its conduct to different degrees across the decades. It concludes with the potential for “post-dirigisme” to frame future research exploring the tension between the creeping influence of rules-based policymaking, co-existing and conflicting with enduring dirigiste practices and aspirations within French economic governance.