François Quesnay (; ; 4 June 1694 – 16 December 1774) was a French economist and physician of the Physiocratic school. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" (Economic Table) in 1758, which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats. This was perhaps the first work attempting to describe the workings of the economy in an analytical way, and as such can be viewed as one of the first important contributions to economic thought. His Le Despotisme de la Chine, written in 1767, describes Chinese politics and society, and his own political support for enlightened despotism.

He now devoted himself principally to economic studies, taking no part in the court intrigues which were perpetually going on around him. Around 1750 he became acquainted with Jacques C.M.V. de Gournay (1712–1759), who was also an earnest inquirer in the economic field; and round these two distinguished men was gradually formed the philosophic sect of the Économistes, or, as for distinction's sake they were afterwards called, the Physiocrates. The most remarkable men in this group of disciples were the elder Mirabeau (author of L'Ami des hommes, 1756–60, and Philosophie rurale, 1763), Nicolas Baudeau (Introduction a la philosophie économique, 1771), Guillaume-François Le Trosne (De l'ordre social, 1777), André Morellet (best known by his controversy with Galiani on the freedom of the grain trade during the Flour War), Lemercier de La Rivière, and du Pont de Nemours. Adam Smith, during his stay on the continent with the young Duke of Buccleuch in 1764–1766, spent some time in Paris, where he made the acquaintance of Quesnay and some of his followers; he paid a high tribute to their scientific services in his Wealth of Nations. and had a son and a daughter; his grandson by the former was a member of the first Legislative Assembly. He died on 16 December 1774, having lived long enough to see his great pupil, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, in office as minister of finance.

The publications in which Quesnay expounded his system were the following: two articles, on "Fermiers" (Farmers) and on "Grains", in the Encyclopédie of Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1756, 1757);

Orientalism and China

Quesnay is known for his writings on Chinese politics and society. His book Le Despotisme de la Chine, written in 1767, describes his views of the Chinese imperial system. He was supportive of the meritocratic concept of giving scholars political power, without the cumbersome aristocracy that characterized French politics, and the importance of agriculture to the welfare of a nation. Gregory Blue writes that Quesnay "praised China as a constitutional despotism and openly advocated the adoption of Chinese institutions, including a standardized system of taxation and universal education." Blue speculates that this may have influenced the 1793 establishment of the Permanent Settlement in Bengal by the British Empire. Quesnay's interests in Orientalism has also been a source of criticism. Carol Blum, in her book Strength in Numbers on 18th century France, labels Quesnay an "apologist for Oriental despotism."

Because of his admiration of Confucianism, Quesnay's followers bestowed him with the title "Confucius of Europe." Quesnay's infatuation for Chinese culture, as described by Jesuits, led him to persuade the son of Louis XV to mirror the "plowing of sacred land" by the Chinese emperor to symbolize the link between government and agriculture.

On taxation

Quesnay acknowledged three economic classes in France: the "proprietary" class consisting of only landowners, the "productive" class of agricultural workers, and the "sterile" class of merchants. Quesnay saw no benefit to the sterile class and believed the productive to be all important. Quesnay viewed France's agriculture as backward and unproductive compared to Britain during the time he was residing in the Palace of Versailles. Despite residing in the Palace, Quesnay believed agriculture was the heart of the economy and of special importance to him. Quesnay argued that taxes placed on cultivators are only harmful to society as these taxes will reduce the incentive for agricultural production. Taxing proprietors (property holders) does not destroy the means of production meaning there is no decline in output. Quesnay wanted proprietors to bear the full burden of the tax in the country as taxing cultivators is a negative consequence for everyone. Removing incentive from cultivators reduces agricultural production and the agricultural surplus Quesnay believed to be the heart of the economy. Quesnay also opposed indirect taxes in contrast to direct taxes. These "indirect taxes" are placed on the French public by proprietors whose greed demands immunity from taxation. Direct taxes on proprietors have no impact on reproduction and economic decline. Reducing indirect taxes and increasing direct taxes gives the French a surplus of agriculture and the funding the country needs. However, this opinion was not very popular among the wealthy of which Quesnay spent time regularly with. He spent some of his time fearing for his life in the Palace.

Quesnay’s taxation theory was closely linked to his broader model of economic circulation, particularly as expressed in the Tableau Économique. Tax policy was not treated as an isolated fiscal question but as a mechanism that could either preserve or disrupt the circulation of the agricultural surplus among classes. From this perspective, taxation that reduced the surplus available to agriculture risked breaking the process of reproduction that sustained the economy over time. Also note that Quesnay regarded fiscal reform as inseparable from legal and institutional reform, since privileges, exemptions, and fragmented tax administration prevented the rational allocation of the surplus. As a result, Quesnay’s proposals implied a significant restructuring of state finance rather than a marginal adjustment of existing taxes, which limited their political feasibility under the Ancient Régime. Historians interpret these limits as evidence of tension between Physiocratic theory and entrenched social hierarchies in eighteenth-century France.

See also

  • Contributions to liberal theory
  • History of economic thought
  • Liberalism
  • Ronald L. Meek
  • Circular flow of income

Notes

References

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Further reading

  • Le Despotisme de la Chine (1767) by François Quesnay, hosted on the University of Massachusetts website