Debates on the falling birth rate in France at the beginning of the twentieth century

The theme of population is recurrent in economics, particularly in France. The literature in history of economic thought related to these issues is extensive, especially, in the case of French liberal economists, from the period starting with the writings of Malthus up to the middle of the 19th century. Few studies, however, focus on the position of economic liberals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The purpose of this paper is therefore to extend the analysis and provide an account of the key debates amongst the French liberal economists of this period concerning what they referred to as “the problem of population”. We shall first see that this “problem” consisted in a stagnation of French population levels due to a drop in the birth rate, leading to negative consequences for the economy and elsewhere. This led economists to name causes and solutions to this decline on which the French liberals were divided. For some authors, the causes arose from a change in lifestyles, for others to increasing intervention by the state. Lastly, we will present the contrasting ideas for solutions to allow the birth rate to increase again. For some, the solution was a moral one: what was needed was a change of mindset. For others, the solution was economic, i.e., the human condition could be improved by free trade. For others, the solution lay in legislation: the state should encourage individuals to have more children.