Jean-Baptiste Say

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Jean-Baptiste Say.

Jean-Baptiste Say [ ʒãbaˈtist ˈsɛ ] (born January 5, 1767 in Lyon , † November 15, 1832 in Paris ) was a French economist and businessman. He is considered to be a representative of classical economics and achieved lasting fame , especially because of Say's theorem, which is named after him .

Life

Lettres a M. Malthus , 1820

ancestors

Say's origins can be traced back to David Say, a master tailor from Nîmes (17th century). He had six children; one of these was Robert Say (* 1614), who in turn was the father of Louis Say, a cloth merchant in Nîmes. Due to his affiliation with the Protestant religion , he was forced to flee to Geneva . From here three lines can be traced: Samuel Say († 1743 in London ), Benjamin Say (doctor in Philadelphia, participant in the American Revolutionary War ) and Jean-Estienne Say (* 1739) in Geneva. He went to Lyon to train in the textile trade , where he married the daughter of the businessman M. Castanet, Françoise Castanet. On January 5, 1767, Jean-Baptiste Say emerged from the marriage. Jean-Baptiste had two brothers: Horace Say became an engineer and a soldier; he died in 1799 during the Egyptian expedition . Louis Say became a sugar merchant in Nantes ; he also published some - not uncritical towards his brother - economic policy writings.

Childhood and youth

Say spent the first part of his childhood in Lyon, where he was tutored in experimental physics by an Oratorian priest . At the age of nine he was sent to an educational institution in Écully , where he received an education in the sense of the Enlightenment .

When Say was fifteen years old, the family moved to Paris due to massive economic problems in his father's cloth business . Say had to give up his studies in favor of his father's business. After economic recovery, Say's family sent him and his brother Horace to Croydon , England , in 1785 , where Say was employed by the Scottish merchant Bisset. The two experienced the industrial revolution there , which left a lasting impression on Say. During this stay in England Say was also familiar with the works of Francis Bacon and John Locke . Last but not least, his knowledge of English made it possible for him to read Adam Smith's work on the prosperity of nations (1776) .

The wealth of the nations

In 1787 Say returned to France at the age of 20. Despite his fondness for literature, Say took a job with the Clavières insurance company after returning to France . In 1789 he wrote the play La Tante et le Prétendu and in 1790 the anti-clerical play Le Curé amoureux . He also publishes poems in the Almanac des Muses . In 1789 he also published anonymously texts about freedom of the press . In 1792 he was editor of the magazine Courrier de Provence , the first scientific publications date from this time.

Clavière introduces him to Smith's wealth of nations , which is directed against the prevailing doctrine of the Physiocrats in France . Say is very impressed by this and is now very interested in economic issues: "Lorsqu'on lit Smith comme il mérite d'être lu, on s'aperçoit qu'il n'y avait pas avant lui d'économie politique." ( German: "If you read Smith as he deserves to be read, you will realize that there was no political economy before him.")

Nevertheless, he turns against Smith on fundamental points: he considers Smith's labor theory of value, which would later be taken up again by David Ricardo and Karl Marx, to be wrong; instead, for him, value is determined by his utility , which is expressed by the exchange price. A useless good has no value, no matter how many man-hours it takes to produce it. Second, Smith misunderstood the role of capital ; Say explains this later in chapters 10 to 14 of the Cours complet d'économie politique pratique . Third, Say argues that immaterial goods are no less real than other goods.

Revolutionary Army volunteer

Say is temporarily employed by Honoré Gabriel de Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau and has been a supporter of the French Revolution since 1789 ; however, he later rejected the more radical Robespierre rule . In August 1789 he joined the National Guard , commanded by Marie-Joseph Motier, Marquis de La Fayette . In 1792 he volunteered for the Revolutionary Army in the Compagnie des Arts and reported to Nikolaus von Luckner , later to François-Christophe Kellermann . He witnessed the Valmy cannonade .

In 1793 Say Malle married Julie Gourdel-Deloches (* 1767), daughter of a lawyer. On March 11, 1794, their first son Horace was born (whose son Léon Say would later be finance minister and parliamentarian in the Third Republic ); later the son Alfred and the daughters Adrienne ( who will marry the economist Charles Comte (1782-1837)) and Octavie. A son and a daughter still die as children.

In Noisy-le-Grand , Say and his wife decide to open an educational institution where they are educated in small groups according to liberal principles. Immediately before the opening, Nicolas Chamfort and Pierre Louis Ginguené put him in charge of editing La Décade magazine . Chamfort dies 14 days before the first issue, Ginguené is arrested and only released after the 9th Thermidor .

Rédacteur Général of Décade

On 10 Floréal II (April 29, 1794) the first edition of La Décade Philosophique, Littéraire et Politique, par une Société de Républicains appears . In addition to Ginguené, Eugène Emmanuel Amaury-Duval (1808–1885), François Andrieux , Joachim Lebreton and Georges Toscan are also involved.

La Décade is an octave magazine that follows the tradition of the Encyclopédie and represents ideological positions . The Masonic Lodge of the Neuf Sœurs , which she meets with Helvétius ' widow, is also among her readers .

Tribune, the Traité d'économie politique and break with Napoléon

Say initially welcomed the coup d'état of 18th Brumaire VIII and hoped for a return to the principles of 1789. In late 1799 he was appointed a member of the tribunate in the finance committee of the Napoleonic consulate ; at the same time he gives up the editorial post of the Décade . In addition to him, Ginguené, Andrieux and Le Breton are three other founders of the Décade Tribune.

Soon there were disagreements with Napoléon over the role of the tribunate. From 1800 to 1803 Say worked on his Traité d'économie politique . While science was initially a secondary activity, Say's appearance (1803) also made it famous beyond France. It also contained Say's famous theorem for the first time . With his liberal market position, Say is in opposition to Napoléon , who restricted trade for political reasons. Napoléon tries to urge Say to make some changes for the second edition in order to “bring it in line with the needs of the hour” (French “pour le mettre en harmonie avec les nécessités politiques de l'époque” ). In the summer of 1803 he invited Say to a dinner, which Say refused. On March 26, 1804 Say resigned from the tribunate. On the same day, Say learned from the newspaper that he had been appointed Directeur des droits réunis , head of taxation in the Allier department . Say refuses. There was a final break with Bonaparte. This then bans the second edition of the Traité d'économie politique .

Free entrepreneur

Say went to Auchy-lès-Hesdin in the Pas-de-Calais department to set up a cotton factory. He employed several hundred people. After a few years, however, he sold his shares and went back to Paris to work as a speculator. The Restoration (1814) meant a disillusionment for supporters of the revolution like Say. He even considered emigrating to the USA and contacted Thomas Jefferson , but ultimately found himself too old to move.

Second trip to England

In the end, however, he went on a study trip to England on behalf of the French government in order to gain insight into the local economic system. He became a member of the Academy of Sciences (1815) and from then on held various teaching positions. In 1819 he co-founded the first business school in the world, the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris , today ESCP . He stayed at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers for years. Not least because of his correspondence with Thomas Robert Malthus , his popularity continued to grow during this time.

Last years and death

Say died in 1832 of complications from a stroke .

plant

General

Jean-Baptiste Say

Jean-Baptiste Say can be seen as a thought leader in supply theory . Say's theorem , named after him, is famous ; it denies weak demand in the economy, since the production of goods (creation of supply) creates the income with which demand is generated. It represents a core of the basic economic understanding. To what extent James Mill developed the theorem before Say and to what extent it underwent an evolution into its current form during Says and beyond , is still controversial today. It played a large role in discussions by John Maynard Keynes in the 20th century.

Say dominated the economy in France in the 19th century. His works were greatly influenced by Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776). A key achievement of Says is to have spread Smith's liberal economics in France. However, to reduce Say's role to that of a mere propagator of Smith's doctrine would not do Say justice. Say looked at the economy from the point of view of a businessman and less theoretically, underlined by many examples in the works.

Say divides the economy into the areas of production , distribution and consumption . He identified labor , land and capital as factors of production . State and church were critical of Say and advocated low taxes . However, he stuck to coinage as a state monopoly.

Traité d'économie politique

In his Traité d'économie politique ou simple exposition de la manière dont se forment, se distribuent, et se consomment les richesses ( Treatise on National Economy, or, Simple Representation of the Way in which riches are created, distributed and consumed be ) Say sought to demonstrate a comprehensive and systematic elaboration of the principles of political economy. He saw all previous attempts at this as influenced by prejudice, ideology, dogmatism, arbitrary assumptions, utopias and emotionality. He writes about Adam Smith :

L'ouvrage de Smith n'est qu'une assemblage confus de principes les plus sains de l'économie politique, appuyés d'exemples lumineux et des notions les plus curieuses de la statistique, mêlées de réflexions instructives; mais ce n'est un traité complet ni de l'une ni de l'autre: son livre est un vaste chaos d'idées justes, pêle-mêle aves des connaissances positives.

“Smith's work is nothing more than a disorganized collection of the soundest principles of political economy, backed up by illuminating examples and strange statistical terms, mixed with instructive explanations; but it is not a complete treatise of neither one nor the other: his book is a huge chaos of correct ideas, mixed up with positive knowledge. "

Economic laws of nature

For Say, influenced by Montesquieu , the basis of economics are indisputable, general and fundamental laws of nature . These can be recognized by closely observing reality. They cannot be influenced by the human will. Some of these have already been seen by the mercantilists , physiocrats and Adam Smith , but there is no systematic and corrected presentation. Methodically, Say is influenced by Conillac and Cabanis : For Say, economics is an empirical science; he rejects the mathematical formulation. The basis is the following train of thought:

  1. There is a nature of things and of man.
  2. The laws of nature to which things and people are subject can be recognized through analysis and the empirical method.
  3. The laws that govern wealth gain are the immutable laws of political economy.
  4. The laws of political economy form a science that deals with the interests of the earthly world ("les intérêts de cette vie") .

freedom

As a natural state of man Say considered in tradition of the French Enlightenment whose freedom . Only man’s freedom allows him to use his abilities in the best possible way. Only freedom makes it possible for people to act morally.

Il résulte bien de l'étude de l'économie politique qu'il convient aux hommes, dans la plupart des cas, d'être laissés à eux-mêmes, parce que c'est ainsi qu'ils arrivent au développement de leurs facultés.

"It follows from studying political economy that, in the majority of cases, it is most appropriate for people to be left to themselves, as this allows them to develop their abilities to the full."

Private property

Say's analysis of private property is shaped by Faguet . For Say, the full development of freedom requires a natural right to property as a counterpart . He justifies this as follows:

  • The right to property allows the creation of wealth: only the security of receiving the fruits of one's labor creates sufficient incentives to use and maintain it in the best possible way to create value.
  • The right to property allows the market price to come about.
  • The right to property allows capital to accumulate : capital does not by itself create interest. To be productive, it must be used sensibly. However, there would be no incentive to do so if there was no certainty of receiving the fruits of the labor involved.
  • The right to property allows the exchange of goods and the division of labor .
  • The right to property allows the poor to use their abilities to their benefit.

Entrepreneurship

Say was one of the first economists to explore the theory of entrepreneurship . In the Traité he writes that every production process requires effort, knowledge and entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs use intermediaries in the production process who combine accelerators of the economic process such as land , capital and labor in order to satisfy consumer demand. As coordinators, they play a central role in the economy. Say has dealt with both large entrepreneurs and sole proprietorships.

Say also asked what qualities are important for a successful entrepreneur and especially the judgment . In his opinion, entrepreneurs must continuously assess market needs and the means that can satisfy them, demonstrating an "infallible market sense". Since Say emphasized the coordinating function of companies, he saw the entrepreneur's wage primarily as a high wage paid in compensation for the knowledge and expertise of entrepreneurs. He differentiated between the corporate function and the capital supply function, which allowed him to decide between the income of the company and the remuneration of the capital. Say's theory differs significantly from Joseph Schumpeter's , who describes entrepreneurial profits as short-term profits that compensate for the high risk.

In addition, Say approached the issues of risk , uncertainty and innovation in relation to entrepreneurship, although he never explored their interactions in depth. So he wrote:

[In any enterprise activity] there is an abundance of obstacles to be surmounted, of anxieties to be repressed, of misfortunes to be repaired, and of expedients to be devised [...] [and] there is always a degree of risk attending such undertakings. "[In any entrepreneurial activity] there is an abundance of obstacles to be overcome, from fears to suppress, misfortunes to be repaired and means to be devised [...] [and] there is always some risk of getting caught up in it to participate in such undertakings. "

Sometimes a manufacturer discovers a process, calculated either to introduce a new product, to increase the beauty of an old one, or to produce with greater economy. "Sometimes a producer discovers a process, either to introduce a new product or to enhance the beauty of an old one, or to produce more economically."


Value theory

The value of a commodity depends for Say in contrast to the mercantilists not objective, physical characteristics of a thing from. Only the subjective value of a good transforms it into prosperity. In order for a value to become wealth, it must be subjectively recognized by another person; this happens in the exchange of goods. The usefulness of a good for another person determines its value, which is expressed in the price. Condillac had a major influence on Say here .

Works

German editions

  • Katechismus der National-Oekonomie , Stuttgart 1827, translation of the 3rd revised French edition in the Google book search

Work editions

French complete edition

  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Traité d'économie politique . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume I. Economica, Paris 2005.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Cours complet d'économie politique pratique . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume II. Economica, Paris 2006.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Catéchisme d'économie politique et opuscules diverse . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume III. Economica, Paris 2007.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Leçons d'économie politique . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume IV. Economica, Paris 2002.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Œuvres morales et politiques, 1789–1832 . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume V. Economica, Paris 2003.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: De la Décade philosophique à la Revue Encyclopédique . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume VI. Economica, Paris 2007.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Notes et pièces diverse . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume VII. Economica, Paris 2008.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Œuvres littéraires . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume VIII. Economica, Paris 2008.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Correspondance . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume IX. Economica, Paris.
  • Jean-Baptiste Say: Eléments de biography et index . In: André Tiran (Ed.): Jean-Baptiste Say - Œuvres Complètes . Volume X. Economica, Paris.

Secondary literature

This article is based on:

  • Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) - Maître et pédagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 (French).

Further literature for deepening:

  • Edgard Allix: J.-B. Say Et Les Origines De L'Industrialization . In: Revue d'économie politique . 1911, p. 303-313 .
  • Ambroise Clement: Jean-Baptiste Say . In: Charles Coquelin and Gilbert Guillaumin (eds.): Dictionnaire de L'Economie Politique . Guillaumin, Paris 1854 ( dauphine.fr [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).
  • Eugène Daire: Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages de JB Say . In: Charles Comte, Eugène Daire and Horace Say (eds.): Oeuvres diverses de J.-B. Say . Guillaumin, Paris 1848, p. i-xviii .
  • Henri Denis: La "Loi de Say" sera-t-elle enfin rejetée? Une nouvelle approche de la surproduction . Economica, Paris 1999, ISBN 978-2-7178-3848-0 .
  • E. Dubois de L'Estang: Jean-Baptiste Say . In: Léon Say et Joseph Chailley (eds.): Nouveau Dictionnaire de L'Economie Politique . Guillaumin, Paris 1892 ( online [PDF; 1.8 MB ]).
  • Samuel Hollander: Jean-Baptiste Say and the Classical Canon in Economics (The British Connection in French Classicism) . Routledge, 2004, ISBN 978-0-415-32338-3 .
  • Robert Roswell Palmer: JB Say: An Economist in Troubled Times . Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1997, ISBN 978-0-691-01170-7 .
  • Philippe Steiner: Politique et économie politique chez Jean-Baptiste Say . In: Revue française d'histoire des idées politiques . No. 5 (1st trimester), 1997.
  • Thomas Sowell : Say's Law: An Historical Analysis . Princeton University Press, 1972, ISBN 978-0-691-04166-7 .
  • André Tiran and Jean-Pierre Potier: Jean-Baptiste Say. Nouveaux regards sur son oeuvre . Economica, Paris 2003, ISBN 978-2-7178-4567-9 .
  • Joseph Valynseele: Les Say et leur alliances. L'étonnante aventure d'une famille cévenole . Paris 1971.

Web links

Commons : Jean-Baptiste Say  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 13-16 (French).
  2. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 16-20 (French).
  3. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 20-26 (French).
  4. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 26-30 (French).
  5. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 30-40 (French).
  6. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 40-58 (French).
  7. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 69-71 (French).
  8. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 72-73 (French).
  9. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 73-74 (French).
  10. ^ A b G. Koolman: Say's Conception of the Role of the Entrepreneur . In: Economica . tape 38 , no. 151 , August 1971, p. 269-286 , doi : 10.2307 / 2552843 , JSTOR : 10.2307 / 2552843 .
  11. ^ Say, Jean-Baptiste: Catechism of Political Economy. Mises Institute, 1821, accessed August 13, 2019 .
  12. ^ Say, Jean-Baptiste: A Treatise on Political Economy . Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, Philadelphia 1880, p. 331 .
  13. ^ Say, Jean-Baptiste: A Treatise on Political Economy . Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, Philadelphia 1880, p. 329 .
  14. Gérard Minart: Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) - Maître et pedagogue de l'Ecole française d'économie politique libérale . Institut Charles Coquelin, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-915909-02-4 , pp. 75-77 (French).