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)
Reflection: Meaning in life is measured by contribution to the net product.
Aphorism: Free the grain, free the people.
Key idea: The proprietary class holds the key to prosperity.
Witty: Philosophers debate; farmers feed the debate.
Professional: Economics is the physiology of the nation.
Contemporaries of François Quesnay
Other Economicss born within 50 years of François Quesnay (1694–1774).