Auguste Detœuf studied at Polytechnique University (class of 1902), then became a general engineer for roads and bridges.
Involved in the upheavals of his time, Detœuf gave a famous speech in 1936 to the X-Crise group entitled "The end of liberalism".
In 1938, he took part in the Walter Lippmann colloquium where, on certain themes, he opposed Ludwig von Mises.
Under the Occupation, Detœuf was president of one of the "organizing committees" created by the Vichy regime, that of the electrical construction industries.
He is also a member of the Economic Studies Council, which meets twice a month with the Minister of the Economy in Vichy.