Christian Saint-Étienne

“If we do not provoke major political breaks in our country in relation to Europe, we will not become a power again.”

Economist, university professor and strategy consultant, Christian Saint-Étienne sheds light on the great changes reshaping the global economy. A specialist in the China–United States conflict, the role of Europe, the French situation, and strategic liberalism, he connects macro-economic issues to the concrete decisions of companies. His lectures provide leaders with a structured view of the risks, opportunities, and strategic choices ahead.

Christian Saint-Étienne is an emeritus professor at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts and at Paris-Dauphine University, economist, business strategy consultant, and member of the Circle of Economists. A Doctor of State in economics, holding two master's degrees from the London School of Economics and Carnegie Mellon University, he is also a graduate of ESCP-Europe. This triple education in French, English, and American systems fosters a decidedly international approach to economic, industrial, and geopolitical issues.

He worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington and then at the OECD in Paris before holding positions at Crédit Lyonnais in capital markets. He also founded a consulting firm in market strategic analysis. This experience allows him to articulate a nuanced understanding of states, markets, companies, and international institutions.

Christian Saint-Étienne has played an important role in the public debate and French economic policies. A member of the Economic Analysis Council from 2004 to 2012, president of the jury for the ENA in economics, author of official reports on taxation, growth SMEs, metropolises, economic performance, the cloud, and territorial infrastructure, he has contributed to several structuring reflections for France and Europe.

The author of 34 books, numerous reports, and over 400 scientific or journalistic articles, he regularly appears in the media, including Les Échos, Le Figaro, L'Opinion, LCI, BFM Business, France Info, Europe 1, and Radio Classique. His latest works focus on the Sino-American conflict, the new industrial revolution, strategic liberalism, and the challenges posed by Donald Trump to France and Europe.

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The China–United States conflict for global dominance!

The world has entered a new phase of strategic confrontation. The rivalry between China and the United States is no longer limited to trade: it affects technology, industry, currency, energy, value chains, defense, and political influence. Christian Saint-Étienne decodes this conflict as the structuring axis of the 21st century.
He shows how this competition transforms the global economy and forces European companies to rethink their choices. Industrial dependencies, access to markets, digital sovereignty, tensions over raw materials, control of critical technologies: every organization is now exposed to power dynamics that surpass it, but directly condition its future.
Through a clear geo-economic reading, he analyzes American and Chinese strategies, their strengths, vulnerabilities, and respective ambitions. He explains why Europe can no longer be content to be a space for consumption and regulation, but must become an industrial, technological, and political power once again.
This conference enables leaders to better understand the new world order, identify strategic risks, and anticipate the necessary decisions to preserve their competitiveness in a fragmented environment.

Europe in the world: strengths, weaknesses, and choices of power!

Europe has considerable assets: a powerful internal market, a still solid industrial base, leading scientific expertise, and a political tradition based on the rule of law. However, it struggles to consider itself as a power. Christian Saint-Étienne analyzes this European paradox.
He highlights the structural weaknesses of the continent: political fragmentation, strategic dependence on the United States, digital delay, insufficient industrial investments, and the absence of a genuine common vision of power. In a world dominated by blocs, this hesitation becomes a major risk.
The conference questions Europe's capacity to defend its interests in key areas: industry, energy, defense, cloud, artificial intelligence, finance, and international trade. Christian Saint-Étienne explains why European sovereignty cannot remain a slogan but must become a concrete strategy.
Participants leave with a precise reading of European issues and their consequences for businesses: where to invest, how to protect themselves, which dependencies to reduce, and how to think about strategy in a continent that must choose between power and decline.

France: economic situation, competitiveness, and reindustrialization!

France has long believed it could prosper in a post-industrial world. Christian Saint-Étienne dismantles this illusion: without industry, there are no solid exports, no powerful private research, and no skilled jobs in the territories. French deindustrialization is not just an economic problem; it is a strategic crisis.
He analyzes the root causes of this weakening: loss of industrial culture, excessive taxation, poor allocation of savings, regulatory complexity, disconnection between governing elites and productive elites. He shows how this rupture has weakened the productive apparatus, the territories, and France's ability to assert itself in the world.
The conference offers an operational vision of reindustrialization: strengthen SMEs, direct savings towards the real economy, prepare industrial land, connect industry and logistics, invest in energy, skills, and technologies. It is not just about opening a few factories, but about rebuilding a complete ecosystem.
This intervention is particularly suitable for leaders, professional federations, institutions, and local authorities who wish to understand how France can regain a trajectory of power, jobs, and sustainable growth.

The new industrial revolution: digital, capital, and sovereignty!

The current industrial revolution is no less industrial than the previous ones: it is on the contrary hyper-industrial, hyper-technological, and hyper-capitalistic. Christian Saint-Étienne explains why digital technology, computing, robotics, AI, semiconductors, and energy infrastructures are reshaping economic power relations.
He shows that this new economy relies on massive fixed costs, considerable investments, and monopolistic effects. The companies that dominate are those that have the capital, talent, technologies, and the ability to invest quickly and heavily. This reality profoundly changes the rules of competitiveness.
The conference helps to understand why the industry of the future cannot be envisioned without long-term capital, equity, technological sovereignty, and public strategy. Christian Saint-Étienne connects innovation, financing, industry, and national power here.
Participants leave with a clear vision of what

Liberalism, freedom, and the strategic state

In the French public debate, liberalism is often reduced to a caricature: less state, more market, generalized deregulation. Christian Saint-Étienne offers a much more demanding reading: true liberalism is based on freedom, responsibility, initiative, but also on a state capable of guaranteeing the conditions of collective power.
He advocates the idea of a strategic liberalism, capable of articulating business, innovation, sovereignty, tax justice and national interest. In a fragmented world, economic freedom cannot survive without security, without infrastructure, without training, without industry, and without a long-term vision.
The conference invites us to go beyond sterile oppositions between state and market. It shows that the great modern economic successes often rely on an intelligent alliance between private initiative, patient capital, industrial policies, and effective institutions.
This intervention offers leaders and decision-makers a deep reflection on the conditions for a free, productive, and sustainable economy, capable of protecting without suffocating, investing without wasting, and creating wealth without renouncing collective responsibility.

Leading in a fragmented world: understanding risks to make better decisions

Leaders can no longer think of their strategy solely based on their markets, competitors, or clients. They must now integrate geopolitical disruptions, trade tensions, technological wars, energy vulnerabilities, and new industrial dependencies.
Christian Saint-Étienne offers a framework to transform global complexity into strategic decisions. He helps leaders identify weak signals, distinguish sustainable trends from fads, and understand the scenarios that may affect their business.
Through his experience as an economist, consultant, and former expert with international institutions, he connects major macroeconomic dynamics to concrete decisions: investments, localization, supply chain, financing, innovation, risk exposure, and partner choices.
This conference is designed as a decision-making tool for COMEX and leaders. It allows one to gain perspective, clarify priorities, and build a more robust strategy in an unstable world.

Trump and us: how to save France and Europe?

From his recent work, Christian Saint-Étienne analyzes what the return of Trumpism reveals about the profound transformations of the world order. Protectionism, economic imperialism, questioning alliances, pressure on Europe: the United States no longer behaves merely as an ally but as a power aggressively defending its interests.
He shows that this shock forces France and Europe to awaken from their strategic naivety. The transatlantic relationship must be reinterpreted in light of industrial, technological, military, monetary, and commercial interests. The issue is not anti-Americanism, but lucidity.
The conference explores possible responses: strengthening European sovereignty, investing in defense, securing industrial supply chains, developing critical technologies, and rethinking economic dependencies. It places France back in its responsibilities in a world where power becomes the norm.
Participants leave with a precise understanding of how the American shock changes things for businesses, states, and European citizens. A direct, strategic, and particularly current conference.

Reindustrialize France: moving beyond the post-industrial myth to become a power again!

Christian Saint-Étienne dismantles the strategic error that led France to believe, for twenty-five years, in a post-industrial and post-work world. He explains why industry remains essential for exports, research, innovation, and the wealth of regions. In the face of global economic conflict and the new industrial revolution, he calls for a national reindustrialization strategy based on capital, medium-sized enterprises, logistics, territories, and a deep transformation of the ruling elites.

France: the trap of post-industrial illusion

In this uncompromising intervention, Christian Saint-Étienne analyzes the French crisis as a double rupture: a systemic crisis and a major strategic error. He demonstrates how France mistakenly believed it was entering a post-industrial world, at the very moment when a third hyper-technological and entrepreneurial industrial revolution was opening up. Amid deindustrialization, loss of competitiveness, and political blockages, he calls for a radical transformation of economic, fiscal, and cultural models to avoid falling behind.

Strategic liberalism: re-establishing democracy through responsibility!

In this enlightening speech, Christian Saint-Étienne revisits liberalism by returning to its philosophical roots, far beyond its often caricatured economic dimension. He distinguishes between a political liberalism, inherited from the Enlightenment, based on the rule of law, free will, and individual responsibility, and an economic liberalism that advocates for non-intervention by the state. In the face of contemporary crises, he advocates for a "strategic liberalism": a balance between individual freedom and a sovereign state capable of anticipating, organizing, and protecting.