science

Say's Political Economy

Say's Political Economy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Say's Political Economy rather than just read about it. In short: A Treatise on Political Economy; or The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth (in English), known as Traité d'économie politique in French, is an industrial economics book written by Jean-Baptiste Say. The first edition of Political Economy was published in 1803.

Key takeaways

Say's Political Economy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Say's Political Economy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Say's Political Economy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Treatise on Political Economy; or The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth (in English), known as Traité d'économie politique in French, is an industrial economics book written by Jean-Baptiste Say. The first edition of Political Economy was published in 1803. The fifth edition, published in 1826, was the final one within Say's lifetime. The sixth edition, published in 1846, with Say's final corrections, was edited by Say's eldest son, Horace Émile Say, an economist himself. Political Economy was translated into English "from the 4th edition of the French" by C. R. Prinsep (1821), into German by Ludwig Heinrich von Jakob (1807) and by C. Ed. Morstadt (1818 and 1830), and, according to Say, into Spanish by José Queypo. In 1804, due to his opposition to Napoleon Bonaparte, Say left employment with the government of France. He then turned to studying industrial pursuits, specifically cotton milling in Auchy, The plant was a spinning-mill with 400 to 500 employees, principally women and children. Say spent his time revising Political Economy. The volume had gone out print and the French government had denied him permission to reprint it. When the allied powers deposed the Napoleonic regime in 1814, Say published the second edition of Political Economy. He dedicated it to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, who had claimed to be Say's pupil. In 1814, the new French government sent Say to Great Britain to study its economic conditions. The results of his observations during his journey through England and Scotland appeared in a tract, De l'Angleterre et des Anglais. Say's research on this trip led him to refine his principles in the third edition of Political Economy, published in 1817. Between 1828 and 1830, Say published his Cours complet d'économie politique pratique, which was an expansion of Political Economy to practical applications.

References Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Say, Jean Baptiste" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Further reading Hollander, Samuel (2005), Jean-Baptiste Say and the Classical Canon in Economics: the British Connection in French Classicism, London and New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-32338-X.

External links The Sixth edition of Say's Political Economy Archived 19 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine at McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought Letters to Malthus on Several Subjects of Political Economy (1821) Archived 27 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine at McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Say's Political Economy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Say's Political Economy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Say's Political Economy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Say's Political Economy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Say's Political Economy

In research: Say's Political Economy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Say's Political Economy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Say's Political Economy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Classical economics books, Political economy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Say's Political Economy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Say's Political Economy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Say's Political Economy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Say's Political Economy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Say's Political Economy in simple terms?

Why does Say's Political Economy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Say's Political Economy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Say's Political Economy.