The Role of the State

Perhaps no aspect of French innovation is more distinctive than the role of the state. While American innovation mythology celebrates garage startups and venture capital, France has long embraced dirigisme—state-directed economic planning. This approach has enabled France to undertake massive, long-term projects that might never attract private investment.

The development of the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) in the 1970s exemplifies this model. While other nations debated high-speed rail, France committed billions of francs to developing an entirely new system. The state railway company SNCF, working with aerospace manufacturer Alstom, created trains that could travel at airline speeds while remaining on conventional tracks for part of their journey. Today, the TGV is not just a French success story but an export product, with French expertise helping build high-speed rail systems worldwide.