A Treatise on Political Economy

by Claude, Antoine Louis; de Tracy, Destutt; Jefferson, Thomas; Jennings, Jeremy

• ISBN13: 9780865978126
• ISBN10: 0865978123
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-12-27
• Publisher: Liberty Fund

Summary

A Treatise on Political Economy by Antonie Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836) is a foundational text of nineteenth-century, free-market economic thought and remains one of the classics of nineteenth-century French economic liberalism. Destutt de Tracy was one of the founders of the classical liberal republican group known as the Id ologues, which included Benjamin Constant, Jean-Baptiste Say, Marquis de Condorcet, and Madame de Sta l. In this volume, Destutt de Tracy provides one of the clearest statements of the economic principles of the Id ologues. Breaking with the physiocratic orthodoxy of the eighteenth century, Destutt de Tracy denies that land is the source of all productive labour and focuses his attention upon manufacturing and manufacturers as the producers of utility and, therefore, of value and of wealth. Placing the entrepreneur at the centre of his view of economic activity, he argues against luxurious consumption of the idle rich and recommends a market economy with low taxation and minimum state intervention. Destutt de Tracy sent the text of A Treatise on Political Economy to Thomas Jefferson in hopes of securing its translation in the United States. It was met with enthusiastic approval. Jefferson wrote to the publisher, "The merit of this work will, I hope, place it in the hands of every reader in our country".

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction to the Liberty Fund Edition	p. ix
Note on the Text	p. xxi
A treatise on Political Economy
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Milligan	p. 3
Prospectus, by Thomas Jefferson	p. 5
Advertisement	p. 9
Abstract, or Analytical Table	p. 13
Supplement to the First Section of the Elements of Ideology	p. 31
Introduction to the Second Section of the Elements of Ideology, or a Treatise on the Will and Its Effects	p. 53
First Part of the Treatise on the Will and Its Effects: Of Our Actions
Of Society	p. 93
Of Production, or of the Formation of Our Riches	p. 103
Of the Measure of Utility or of Values	p. 108
Of the Change of Form, or of Manufacturing Industry, Comprising Agriculture	p. 113
Of the Change of Place, or of Commercial Industry	p. 133
Of Money	p. 139
Reflections on What Precedes	p. 160
Of the Distribution of Our Riches amongst Individuals	p. 163
Of the Multiplication of Individuals, or of Population	p. 170
Consequences and Developments of the Two Preceding Chapters	p. 176
Of the Employment of Our Riches, or of Consumption	p. 197
Of the Revenues and Expenses of a Government, and of Its Debts	p. 217
Conclusion	p. 252
Index	p. 257
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