Economic Sophisms

Bastiat's two great works on Political Economy--the Sophismes Économiques, and the Harmonies Économiques--may be regarded as counterparts of each…

It is unnecessary for me to say more here by way of preface, the gifted author having himself explained the design of the work in a short but lucid…

I am not one of those who say that Protection is founded on men's interests. I am of opinion rather that it is founded on errors, or, if you will,…

It is perhaps aiming too high, but my wish is, I confess, that this little work should become, as it were, the _Manual_ of those whose business it is…

Yes, this has been asserted, and is maintained every day; and I hesitate not to affirm that the _theory of scarcity_ is much the most popular. It…

Does not M. d'Argout urge as an argument against sugar-growing the very productiveness of that industry? Does he not say, "Beetroot has no future,…

The _Presse_, the _Commerce_, and the greater part of the daily papers, have one or more articles every morning to demonstrate to the Chambers and…

How does it happen that in the eyes of workmen, of publicists, and statesmen, abundance should appear a thing to be dreaded, and scarcity…

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…

The same thing holds of abundance. We observe that when a product is plentiful, it sells at a lower price, and the producer gains less. If all…

This sophism in its more general form may make little impression, but applied to a particular order of facts, to a certain branch of industry, to a…

But _exchange_ disturbs our view of a truth so simple. In the social state, and with the separation of employments to which it leads, the…

Take the case of any producer whatever, what is his immediate interest? It consists of two things: 1st, that the fewest possible number of persons…

In as far as we are producers, it must be allowed that the desire of every one of us is anti-social. Are we vine-dressers? It would give us no…

Are we physicians? We cannot avoid seeing that certain physical ameliorations, improving the sanitary state of the country, the development of…

Are we manufacturers of cotton stuffs? We desire to sell them at the price most profitable to ourselves. We should consent willingly to an…

In the same way, we might pass in review all other branches of industry, and we should always find that the producers, as such, have anti-social…

Suppose for a moment that the legislative power and the public force were placed at the disposal of Mimeral's committee, and that each member of that…

It may be said that if these wishes were granted, the work of the producer would become more and more limited, and would end with being stopped for…

I made the supposition, not long ago, of the existence of an assembly composed of workmen, each member of which, in his capacity of producer,…

* The author has modified somewhat the terms of this proposition in a posterior work.--See _Harmonies Économiques_, chapter xi.--Editor.

For they say, it is the producer that we must favour by securing him a good market for his product. For this purpose it is necessary to raise the…

Just let us suppose that at the present moment, when all these laws are in full force, we make a complete inventory, not in value, but in weight,…

And what does it matter? Men are not fed on money. They do not clothe themselves with gold, or warm themselves with silver. What matters it whether…

Either you admit that they produce scarcity, or you do not. If you admit it, you avow by the admission that you inflict on the people all the…

I want to travel a hundred miles. But between the starting-point and the place of my destination, mountains, rivers, marshes, impenetrable forests,…

On his long journey through life, from the cradle to the grave, man has need to assimilate to himself a prodigious quantity of alimentary substances,…

It is clear also, considering things in the gross, that it would be better for men in the aggregate, or for society, that these obstacles should be…

But when we come to scrutinize the social phenomena in detail, and men's sentiments as modified by the introduction of exchange, we soon perceive how…

The separation of employments, the division of labour, which results from the faculty of exchanging, causes each man, instead of struggling on his…

The consequence is that this man, in combating this obstacle which it is his special business to overcome for the sake of others, sees in it the…

The physician, for example, does not bake his own bread, or manufacture his own instruments, or weave or make his own coat. Others do these things…

Observing this, theorists make their appearance, and, founding a system on their individual sentiments, tell us: Want is wealth, labour is wealth,…

Then statesmen intervene. They have the disposal of the public force; and what more natural than to make it available for developing and…

Here, for instance, are men who are in want of casks for the storage of their wine. This is an obstacle; and here are other men whose business it…

We have just seen that between our wants and the satisfaction of these wants, obstacles are interposed. We succeed in overcoming these obstacles,…

But what constitutes the measure of our prosperity, or of our wealth? Is it the result of the effort? or is it the effort itself? A relation always…

The first system naturally welcomes everything which tends to diminish _pains_ and augment _products_; powerful machinery which increases the…

It is well to remark that the _universal practice_ of mankind always points to the principle of the first system. We have never seen, we shall…

The opposite doctrine is in favour only with theorists, deputies, journalists, statesmen, ministers--men, in short, born to make experiments on the…

If it be argued that in practice they do not press their principle to its most extreme consequences, I willingly grant it. This is always the case…

Let us see, then, if these two opposite principles which I have just described do not predominate by turns, the one in practical industry, the…

I have already noticed the saying of M. Bugeaud (that "when bread is dear, agriculturists become rich"); but in M. Bugeaud are embodied two…

As an agriculturist, M. Bugeaud directs all his efforts to two ends,--to save labour, and obtain cheap bread. When he prefers a good plough to a…

This incontestable tendency of mankind once established, should, it would seem, reveal to the legislator the true principle, and point out to him…

Now, it is very evident that M. Bugeaud's principle as a deputy is directly opposed to the principle on which he acts as an agriculturist. To act…

There are two things to be remarked upon in this citation--the facts and the doctrine. The facts tend to prove that little land, little capital,…

But M. d'Argout tells us there is death where we think we perceive life, and that the importance of any branch of industry is in direct proportion to…

* Supposing that 48,000 or 50,000 hectares were sufficient to supply the present consumption, it would require 150,000 for triple that consumption,…

But what is true with regard to sugar, cannot be otherwise with regard to bread. If, then, the _utility_ of any branch of industry is to be estimated…

What we should desire also is, that human intelligence should be enfeebled or extinguished; for, as long as it survives, it will be continually…

Thus, it appears that _sisyphism_ has been the doctrine of all the men who have been intrusted with our industrial destinies. It would be unfair to…

This argument recurs continually in works of the protectionist school. I propose to examine it carefully, and I solicit earnestly the reader's…

In this, as in other cases, we shall find protectionist theorists viewing their subject from the producer's stand-point, whilst we advocate the cause…

I. To level and equalize the conditions of labour is not simply to cramp exchanges in certain branches of trade, it is to attack exchange in its…

I have referred to a branch of agricultural industry; I might as well have referred to industry in a different department. There are tailors at…

This natural levelling power of the economic phenomena is so important to the question we are considering, and at the same time so fitted to…

The protectionist gentlemen tell us: Such or such a people have over us an advantage in the cheapness of coal, of iron, of machinery, of…

Suppose two countries, A and B. A possesses over B all kinds of advantages. You infer from this, that every sort of industry will concentrate…

Contemporaneously with this, labour, iron, coal, land, food, capital, are in little request in B, and will soon fall in price there.