French liberal school
The French liberal school, also called the optimist school or the orthodox school, is a 19th-century Schools of [economic thought|school of economic thought] that was centered on the Collège [de France] and the Institut de France. The Journal [des Économistes] was instrumental in promulgating the ideas of the school. Key thinkers include Frédéric Bastiat, Jean-Baptiste Say, Antoine Destutt de Tracy, Julien Freund, Pierre Manent and Gustave de Molinari.
The school vigorously defended free trade and laissez-faire. They were primary opponents of interventionist and protectionist ideas. This made the French school a forerunner of the modern Austrian school.