Jean-Baptiste Say: A Proto-Austrian Warning against Lord Keynes
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Anthony J. Evans
Abstract
Jean-Baptiste Say is largely forgotten in modern economics; if he is remembered and studied, it is for Say’s Law, which was misinterpreted by John Maynard Keynes, and ended up providing the basis for the General Theory. In this chapter, we review Say’s Law and a more correct interpretation. We then use this to highlight the contributions of Say to modern macroeconomics, the microfoundations of macroeconomics, and entrepreneurship theory. Say was an influential French thinker – modern classical liberalism owes much to him, and would be enriched by a rediscovery of his writings.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- The French Intellectual Tradition of Liberty: A Special Issue of the Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines
- Articles
- Montaigne, Architect of or Modern Liberty
- Taking Montesquieu’s Advice: On Liberty
- The Physiocrats: French Precursors to Classical Economics and Laissez Faire
- Voltaire on Liberty
- Benjamin Constant: Soulful Theorist of Commercial Society
- Jean-Baptiste Say: A Proto-Austrian Warning against Lord Keynes
- Tocqueville’s America
- G. de Molinari: the Building of a Rigorous Economic Method
- Jacques Rueff: Unorthodox Classical Liberal, Civil Servant, and Monetary Theorist
- Bertrand de Jouvenel’s Philosophy of Individual Liberty
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- The French Intellectual Tradition of Liberty: A Special Issue of the Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines
- Articles
- Montaigne, Architect of or Modern Liberty
- Taking Montesquieu’s Advice: On Liberty
- The Physiocrats: French Precursors to Classical Economics and Laissez Faire
- Voltaire on Liberty
- Benjamin Constant: Soulful Theorist of Commercial Society
- Jean-Baptiste Say: A Proto-Austrian Warning against Lord Keynes
- Tocqueville’s America
- G. de Molinari: the Building of a Rigorous Economic Method
- Jacques Rueff: Unorthodox Classical Liberal, Civil Servant, and Monetary Theorist
- Bertrand de Jouvenel’s Philosophy of Individual Liberty
