An Essay on Economic Theory

1.5. Cities

An Essay on Economic Theory by Richard Cantillon
Richard Cantillon

Cities form at sites where large property owners have decided to live. Specialization of labor expands to meet the demands of the wealthy. Cities grow even larger when manufacturing industries produce for export, and whose workers are essentially supported by the production of foreign lands. Cantillon placed a great deal of emphasis on transportation costs. He found that property owners who lived far from their lands would experience a reduction in income proportional to the cost of transporting their production to market.

From Part 1: Production, Distribution, and Consumption. Narrated by Millian Quinteros.