LIBERALISM AND ANTICOLONIALISM THE FRENCH ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE FIRST FRENCH COLONIAL EMPIRE

After the French revolution, the collapse of the French colonial empire is confirmed, even though at the beginning of the new century, Napoleon tried to subdue again lost colonies. This decline is accompanied by a very important criticism from economists, against the colonial institutions and the process of colonialism. The economic arguments are more and more important in the liberal writings of Say, Canard and Sismondi. However, criticism is not unanimous, as authors like Ferrier, Ganilh or Page, are going to adopt a more favourable position to colonial institutions, on the basis of an other economic calculation.