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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. [The image comes from “The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.”]

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

See Quotes from Frédéric Bastiat:

Frédéric Bastiat on the state as the great fiction
Frédéric Bastiat on the nature of war
Frédéric Bastiat on socialists and the “social machine”
Frédéric Bastiat on Malthusian theory of the growth of the state
Frédéric Bastiat on socialism hides its true plunderous nature
Frédéric Bastiat on the theory of plunder
Frédéric Bastiat on standing armies vs. local militias
Frédéric Bastiat asks what came first, property or law?
Frédéric Bastiat on a utopian dream of reducing the size of the French state
Frédéric Bastiat the 1830 Revolution, and the Spilling of Wine not Blood
Frédéric Bastiat on trade as a the mutual exchange
Frédéric Bastiat on the freedom, to work and to trade
Frédéric Bastiat on the spirit of free trade as a reform of the mind itself
Frédéric Bastiat on the state vs. laissez-faire
Frédéric Bastiat on the many freedoms that make up liberty
Frédéric Bastiat on the scramble for political office
Frédéric Bastiat on the need for urgent political and economic reform
Frédéric Bastiat on the fact that even in revolution there is an indestructible principle of order in the human heart
Frédéric Bastiat asks what should be the size of the state?
Frédéric Bastiat and the state as “la grande fiction à travers laquelle Tout Le Monde s'efforce de vivre aux dépens de Tout Le Monde

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)

Titles from Frédéric Bastiat:

Frédéric Bastiat

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