François Quesnay
French economist who created the Tableau Économique, modeling economic flows.
Most quoted
"Let there be full freedom of commerce; for the surest, the most exact, the most profitable, to the nation and to the sovereign, internal and external police of commerce, is the freedom of competition."
— from Tableau Économique, 1758
"The nation is reduced to three classes of citizens: the productive class, the sterile class, and the proprietary class."
— from Tableau Économique, 1758
"The sterile class is composed of all citizens occupied in other services and works than those of agriculture."
— from Tableau Économique, 1758
All quotes by François Quesnay (105)
The science of economics is the science of the natural order.
The wealth of a nation is not in its money, but in its goods.
The productive class creates wealth, the sterile class transforms it, and the proprietary class consumes it.
The more a nation consumes its own products, the more it prospers.
The true measure of a nation's power is its agricultural output.
The government should intervene as little as possible in the economy.
The natural order is the most advantageous to men.
The prosperity of the state depends on the prosperity of its agriculture.
The land is the only source of wealth that reproduces itself.
The economic system is like a machine, where all parts are interconnected.
The circulation of money is essential for the reproduction of wealth.
The more a nation exports its agricultural products, the richer it becomes.
The true wealth of a nation is the annual reproduction of its land.
The government should encourage large-scale farming.
The less the government interferes with the natural order, the better.
The economic laws are as immutable as the laws of physics.
The prosperity of the nation depends on the freedom of its commerce.
The net product is the only source of public revenue.
The more capital is invested in agriculture, the more the nation prospers.
The true wealth of a nation is not in its population, but in its production.
Contemporaries of François Quesnay
Other Economicss born within 50 years of François Quesnay (1694–1774).