CEPII was created in 1978, in the context of the modernization of the economic administration. Raymond Barre, the then Prime Minister of France, had sufficient foresight to recognize that globalization would completely transform the approaches of the French and European economies , and would require new tools and new expertise.
Since its creation, CEPII has had a continuing interest in providing a coherent view of the world economy with particular attention to the quality of data on which it bases its analyse s. Its mission is to disseminate information to a wider audience beyond the world of research. In 1979, La Lettre du CEPIIwas published, and the journal International Prospective Economy (later called International Economics ) was launched.
CEPII's reports on the global economy soon become reference works but other initiatives since its inception also contributed to the Centre's reputation . In 1982, CEPII's director was charged by Jacques Attali, Special Adviser to François Mitterrand, to organize an international meeting of economists in Paris, in preparation for the G7 summit in Versailles. On the occasion of this event - attended by Nobel prize winners Wassily Leontief, Nicholas Kaldor, and John Williamson among others - lasting ties were forged with foreign think tanks. In the mid 1980s , CEPII launched its research working paper series and began systematically to publish its work in international journals.
Today, CEPII is one of the world's leading centers for applied research on international issues.
- 20 March 1978 - Raymond Barre, Prime Minister, announced the establishment of a Centre for Prospective Studies and International Information "whose mission was to gather information and develop prospective studies on the global economy, International trade and foreign economies. "
- May 1979 - First Lettre du CEPII: "The global industry in crisis: three significant facts," mimeo.
- 1979 – Construction of a data base to build a multinational accounting system: CHELEM (harmonized accounts on trade and the world economy).
- March 1980 - First issue of International Prospective Economy, on specialization and adaptation to the crisis, published in Paris by Documentation Française.
- 17-18 May 1982 - First conference organized by CEPII, shortly before the G7 summit (Versailles, June 4-6, 1982): "Ensuring the stability of markets and mastering technological change."
- 1983 - First Report: World economy: rising tensions, Paris, Economica.
- February 1984 - First Working Paper: "A dynamic high interest rates in the United States."
- September 1992 - First edition of The World Economy, Repères collection, Paris, La Découverte.
- 1st semester 1994 - First issue of The CEPII Newsletter
- September 1996 - Website was launched.
Read the french version of the story by Gerard Moatti, for the 30st anniversary of CEPII: "1978-2008 Une brève histoire du CEPII".
