Frédéric Bastiat：Economic Sophisms, Excerpt 9

We remark that a man grows richer in proportion to the return yielded by his exertions, that is to say, in proportion as he sells his commodity at a _higher price_. He sells at a higher price in proportion to the rarity, to the scarcity, of the article he produces. We conclude from this, that, as far as he is concerned at least, scarcity enriches him. Applying successively the same reasoning to all other producers, we construct the _theory of scarcity_. We next proceed to apply this theory, and, in order to favour producers generally, we raise prices artificially, and cause a scarcity of all commodities, by prohibition, by restriction, by the suppression of machinery, and other analogous means.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44145
Locator：Excerpt 9 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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