From Chapter IX of The Bastiat Collection: Volume II : “Harmonies of Political Economy (Book Two)”. Pages 481-505 in the text. Narrated by Brannon King.
“The Candlemakers’ Petition” is a well known satire of protectionism written and published in 1845, as part of Bastiat’s Economic Sophisms . This audio essay is narrated by Gennady Stolyarov,
Ought the state to support the arts? There is certainly much to be said on both sides of this question. It may be said, in favor of the system of voting supplies for this purpose, that the arts enlarge, elevate, and harmonize the soul of a nation; that they divert it from too great an absorption in material occupations; encourage in it a love for
“When a farmer borrows fifty francs to buy a plow, it is not, in reality, the fifty francs which are lent to him, but the plow; and when a merchant borrows 20,000 francs to purchase a house, it is not the 20,000 francs which he owes, but the house. Money only appears for the sake of facilitating the arrangements between the parties.” In all times,
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
I have said that when, unfortunately, one has regard to the interest of the producer — and not to that of the consumer — it is impossible to avoid running counter to the general interest, because the demand of the producer as such is only for efforts, wants, and obstacles. I find a remarkable illustration of this in a Bordeaux newspaper. Mr.
Is it quite certain that the mechanism of society, like the mechanism of the heavenly bodies, or that of the human frame, is subject to general laws? Does it form a harmoniously organized whole? Or rather, do we not note in it the absence of all organization? Is not an organization the very thing which all men of heart and of the future, all
[This introduction to Bastiat’s Economic Sophisms (1845) is excerpted from The Bastiat Collection (2011).] My design in this little volume is to refute some of the arguments that are urged against the freedom of trade. I do not propose to engage in a contest with the protectionists; but rather to instill a principle into the minds of those who
[ The Bastiat Collection ] Which is best for man and for society, abundance or scarcity? What! you exclaim, can that be a question? Has anyone ever asserted, or is it possible to maintain, that at the foundation of human well-being? Yes, this has been asserted, and is maintained every day; and I do not hesitate to affirm that the theory of
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The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.