Physiocracy
18th-century French economic theory emphasizing agriculture as sole wealth source.
Last updated
The movement was dominated by François Quesnay, the Marquis de Mirabeau, and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot.[1] A group of 18th-century French economists from the Age of Enlightenment developed the economic theory known as physiocracy, which holds that a nation's wealth originates exclusively from agriculture.[2] This school of thought is recognized as one of the earliest comprehensive economic frameworks.[3]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Economics
- Nationality
- French
- Known for
- Theory that agricultural labor is the sole source of national wealth; Tableau économique; advocacy of laissez-faire
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The physiocrats saw agricultural labor as the sole source of value, unlike mercantilists who focused on trade and gold.[4] Quesnay compared the circulation of wealth to the circulation of blood in the human body, influenced by his medical training.[4] He analyzed how money flowed between farmers, proprietors, and artisans, claiming only farms produced a surplus.[4] The physiocrats believed that profit in capitalist production was merely the rent obtained by landowners.[4]
They praised farmers and damned cities for their artificiality.[5] According to the physiocrats, only farming generated value, while all manufacturing and other non-agricultural work was considered a non-productive addition to agricultural labor.[6] The physiocratic movement gained momentum during the period of the Seven Years' War fought between France and England from 1756 to 1763.[1] François Quesnay first presented the Tableau économique in 1759, a model that became the basis for physiocratic economic ideas.[7]
What the cited sources add
The New Physiocrats are a modern political-economic framework and certification body that expands on Georgism and the original Physiocracy movement.[8] This group states they have updated physiocracy for the 21st century after a century-long hiatus on its advancement.[8] Turgot was one of the first to recognize diminishing returns from successive applications of a variable input.[9] Both Quesnay and Turgot recognized that capital was needed by farmers to start production and to sustain laborers.[9]
Turgot promoted interest as serving a strategic function in the economy due to opportunity cost and risk.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Steiner (2003), pp. 61–62 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "physiocrat", Oxford Dictionaries (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bertholet, "La Physiocratie et la Suisse", Slatkine, 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1988), pp. 348, 355, 358. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Danbom, David B.. Why Americans Value Rural Life.; "The Penguin Dictionary of Economics", Penguin, 1992, p. 329 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1988), pp. 348, 355, 358.; Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (1988), pp. 348, 355, 358. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Henry William Spiegel (1983) The Growth of Economic Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition, Duke University Press. pp. 189, 195–96; "The Penguin Dictionary of Economics", Penguin, 1992, p. 329 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Economic Reform Platform New Physiocrats", New Physiocrats. facts only, no text reused. newphysiocrats.org
- Wikipedia, "Physiocracy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Henry William Spiegel (1983) The Growth of Economic Thought, Revised and Expanded Edition, Duke University Press. pp. 189, 195–96 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Physiocracy (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Economic Concepts And Schools
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Physiocracy (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced