Jean-Baptiste Say

Jean-Baptiste Say advocates Adam Smith’s ideas of self-market economics, natural liberty and limited government intervention which he exposed to fellow Frenchmen in A Treatise on Political Economy. However, be believed that while markets are ordered spontaneously, societies are not. While recognizing that “there exists in societies a nature of things that is independent of the will of man, which we cannot arbitrarily ignore”, and that individuals, are self-interested (with the exception of members of the same family who have common interests), Say does not seem to believe that social order actually arises due to individuals pursuing their one self-interested interests. Say limited Adam Smith’s idea of spontaneous order to the marketplace and assigns a much more important role to legislators, administrators and educators, who are responsible for teaching individuals what their true interests should be.

Contrary to Adam Smith who considers that social order is created through the interaction of many different individuals, Say methaphorically regards the society as a human body which can only survive if the coordination of its organs is harmonious. Say believes that social order has not spontaneously evolved but is a consequence of effective legislation and good education which has managed to make self-interested individuals subordinate their interests to what is good for the society. Thus, while the invisible hand mechanism should be allowed to operate in the marketplace, people’s self interest should be modeled in such a way so it results in favorable outcomes for the society.