author
Charles Gide
1847–1932
A leading French economist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he wrote about cooperation, social reform, and the moral side of economic life. His work helped shape debates about consumer cooperatives and the broader idea of a fairer economy.
1 Audiobook
A history of economic doctrines : from the time of the physiocrats to the present day
by Charles Gide, Charles Rist
About the author
Born in Uzès, France, in 1847, Charles Gide became an economist, teacher, and historian of economic thought whose career took him to the universities of Bordeaux, Montpellier, Paris, and eventually the Collège de France. He is especially remembered for linking economics to social questions rather than treating it as a purely abstract subject.
Gide was a major voice in the French cooperative movement and a key theorist of what was often called social economy. He argued that consumer cooperatives could improve everyday life and offer a practical alternative to harsher forms of competition. His writing combined scholarship with a strong interest in solidarity, reform, and public responsibility.
He also stood out as a public intellectual shaped by his Protestant background and broad reform interests. Dying in 1932, he left behind a body of work that continued to influence discussions of cooperation, economic ethics, and the social purpose of markets.