During the liberal phase of the Second Empire, Léon Walras became involved in the cooperative movement in Paris, which was then booming and was encouraged by Napoléon III[aut]Napoléon III. Initially, he participated with his friend Louis La Cour de la Pijardière[aut]La Cour de la Pijardière, Louis de in an attempt to establish a creditCredit association called the Banque du Travail. He then joined the project launched by Léon Say[aut]Say, Léon to establish the Caisse d’escompte des associations populaires de consommation, de production et de crédit. From April 1865, he served as the appointed administrator of this Caisse. Furthermore, on 5 December 1864, he obtained from the Minister of Public Instruction and Worship, Victor Duruy, the authorisation to deliver three public lectures at the “Cercle des sociétés savantes” on the theory and practice of popular creditCredit, production, and consumption associations.