Author Archive | Frédéric Bastiat

Have you ever witnessed the anger of the good shopkeeper, James B., when his careless son happened to break a square of glass? If you have been present at such a scene, you will most assuredly bear witness to the fact, that every one of the spectators, were there even thirty of them, by common [...]

“A curse on machines! Every year, their increasing power devotes millions of workmen to pauperism, by depriving them of work, and therefore of wages and bread. A curse on machines!” This is the cry which is raised by vulgar prejudice, and echoed in the journals. But to curse machines is to curse the spirit of [...]

“Hateful money! Hateful money!” cried F——, the economist, despairingly, as he came from the Committee of Finance, where a project of paper money had just been discussed. “What’s the matter?” I said. “What is the meaning of this sudden dislike to the most extolled of all the divinities of this world?” F—— Hateful money! Hateful [...]

??Petition of the Manufacturers of Candles, Waxlights, Lamps, Candlelights, Street Lamps, Snuffers, Extinguishers, and the Producers of Oil, Tallow, Resin, Alcohol, and, Generally, of Everything Connected with Lighting To the Members of the Chamber of Deputies. Gentlemen: You are on the right road. You reject abstract theories, and have little consideration for cheapness and plenty. [...]

To the Honorable Members of the Chamber of Deputies. Gentlemen: You are on the right track. You reject abstract theories and little regard for abundance and low prices. You concern yourselves mainly with the fate of the producer. You wish to free him from foreign competition, that is, to reserve the domestic market for domestic [...]

In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession -they are not seen: it [...]