The purpose of this paper is to examine the emergence of economic expertise in Egypt through the study of the Société d'Economie Politique, de Statistique et de Législation, which was established in early 20th century colonial Egypt as the first learned society in the field of social sciences. This society, and its journal L'Egypte Contemporaine, constituted a space in which government officials, members of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, professors of law and political economy could debate economic and social issues related to Egypt. Among the main topics tackled in its Political Economy section were issues pertaining to the cultivation and uses of cotton and the development of small industries. In addition, questions pertaining to agriculture cooperatives, working conditions in the industrial sector, as well as juvenile delinquency were largely debated in the Social Economy section of the Society. I will argue that, although a wide variety of subjects were covered, and diverse views expressed, in the Society's journal, one may however locate the emergence of a specific type of discourse, one which claims objectivity and seeks the establishment of facts through the extensive use of statistics. Such aspiration to objectivity is also apparent in the Society's obvious attempt to distinguish its contribution from the type of discourse held in the political sphere. Paradoxically however, members of the Society sought to influence legislation and to affect decision-making processes through the development of localized and specific knowledge that is essentially geared towards political action. In this sense, Political Economy and Social Economy were conceived as applied fields of knowledge. Through the analysis of the Society's publications and archives, this paper will explore the emergence of a new type of knowledge and a specific mode of intervention in the public sphere in the context of colonial Egypt in the first half of the 20th century.