He will have been one of the most outstanding economists of his generation. Aged 70 and seriously ill for several months, Daniel Cohen died on Sunday August 20 in Paris, according to his publisher Albin Michel, confirming information from the newspaper Le Monde. A specialist in sovereign debt, he was a professor at the École Normale Supérieure and at the Paris School of Economics, an institution he had chaired since 2021.
A former student from rue d’Ulm, Daniel Cohen became known for his work Wealth of the world, poverty of nations, published in 1997. In it he describes the rise of inequalities, exacerbated by what he calls “selective pairings “. Subsequently, throughout the 2000s, he became interested in the changes in post-industrial society, whether in the field of work (Our modern times, 2000) or international exchanges (La Mondialisation et ses enemies, 2004 ).
His subsequent works – Three lessons on postindustrial society (2006) and The Prosperity of Vice, A (worried) introduction to economics (2009) – are similar to historical frescoes describing the transformation of capitalism, from its birth to our days. In his last published essay, Homo Economicus (2012), he offered a reflection on the Easterlin paradox, according to which the increase in gross domestic product per capita does not necessarily translate into an increase in the level of individual happiness.
In parallel with his university work, Daniel Cohen was an advisor at the Lazard bank. In this capacity, he helped several statesmen (Greek Prime Minister Geórgios Papandreou, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa…) to renegotiate their countries’ debt. His expertise also led him to participate, in partnership with the World Bank, in the “Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative” (HIPC initiative).
Daniel Cohen also made a name for himself in the media sector, becoming a columnist for L’Obs and editorial writer for Le Monde, a daily newspaper of which he was a member of the supervisory board until his death.
A committed economist, he made several forays into the political world, joining Martine Aubry’s campaign team for the 2012 presidential election in July 2011, then supporting, during the 2017 presidential election, the socialist candidate Benoît Hamon.
His death aroused many reactions in the political and economic world.
“Daniel Cohen was a teacher. A man of ideals and transmission. Debates and commitment. We are losing a great intellectual, an economist who made our French research shine, a sincere humanist”, declared Emmanuel Macron on X.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne learned with “sadness” of the disappearance of Mr. Cohen, whose “vision of the French economy and the great revolutions, in particular digital, will be missed in the public debate”, she declared on the same social network.
The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire hailed him, “a huge economist, but also an outstanding pedagogue, a pioneer of new ideas, a brilliant and convincing author”, on X. “He will have been valuable advice during the COVID crisis. We all lose a voice and a friend,” said the minister.
Daniel Cohen was “one of the greatest intellectuals, economists, driven by all the concerns and science of the moment, someone irreplaceable”, testified to AFP Frédéric Worms, director of the Ecole Normale Supérieure . “His genius, he who was normalien in mathematics, was to master the tools of the economy with an overall vision of the world and of justice, to master the entire economic spectrum, from mathematical analysis to philosophy. politics,” he added.
