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Frédéric Bastiat

1801–1850

Nationality: French

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was one of the leading advocates of free markets and free trade in the mid-19th century. He was inspired by the activities of Richard Cobden and the organization of the Anti-Corn Law League in Britain in the 1840s and tried to mimic their success in France.

Bastiat was an elected member of various French political bodies and opposed both protection and the rise of socialist ideas in these forums. His writings for a broader audience were very popular and were quickly translated and republished in the U.S. and throughout Europe. His incomplete magnum opus, Economic Harmonies, is full of insights into the operation of the market and is still of great interest to economists. He died at a young age from cancer of the throat.

See the Liberty Matters online discussions on Bastiat and Political Economy and Reassessing Bastiat’s Economic Harmonies After 160 Years

For additional information about Frédéric Bastiat see the following: * in the Forum: Essays on Bastiat * at our sister website Econlib: the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics entry on Bastiat

For tables of contents of Bastiat’s Works:

table of contents of the Guillaumin edition of the Works (in French)
table of contents of LF’s translation (in English)
table of contents of LF’s translation (in French)
chronological list of Bastiat’s works

See the Timeline of the Life and Work of Frédéric Bastiat:

Expanded and enlarged Timeline Part 1 (1801-1844) 123 KB PDF
Expanded and enlarged Timeline Part 2 (1844-1850) 82 KB PDF
JPG (1200 px, 410 KB)
PDF (45 KB)

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Frédéric Bastiat