Jean‐Baptiste Say (1767‐1832): Between the labour theory of value and utility

Abstract

Postulates that politicians and economists again seem to believe in Say’s “law of markets” (la loi des “débouchés”). Discusses this law and its applicability in the present. States that supply does not always create the right amount of demand. Say’s law has its flaws because of its underlying assumptions, which interfere with its applicability in the present. Perhaps the question Say wanted to answer was not the question that is now most important for modern macro policy. Say lived in an era dominated by the belief in a “grand design” and of search for the mechanism which holds it together. Concludes that the thought that there may not be a grand design, or that it may be different from the one imposed by Adam Smith, is seldom considered by economists.

Citation

Spithoven, A.H.G.M. (1996), "Jean‐Baptiste Say (1767‐1832): Between the labour theory of value and utility", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 39-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299610122399