“(...) all the inhabitants of a state are dependent. They can be divided into two classes, entrepreneurs and hired workers. The entrepreneurs are on unfixed wages while the others are on fixed wages as long as there is work, although their functions and ranks may be very unequal. The general who has his pay, the courtier his pension and the domestic servant who has wages, all fall into this last class. All the others are entrepreneurs, whether they are set up with capital to conduct their enterprise, or are entrepreneurs of their own labor without capital, and they may be regarded as living under uncertainty; even the beggars and the robbers are entrepreneurs of this class. Finally all the inhabitants of a state derive their living and their advantages from the property of the landowners and are dependent.””
Quotes by Richard Cantillon
“If the property owners had the desire to increase the population they would encourage peasants to marry young and raise children by promising to provide them with subsistence, devoting the land entirely to that purpose, and they would doubtless increase the population up to the point that the land could support, according to the products allotted for each person, whether those of an acre and a half, or four to five acres.But if instead, the prince, or the property owners, made them use the land for other purposes than the upkeep of the people...””
“(...) if the [native] Americans, who did not make use of iron before the discovery of their continent, had found mines and had known how to use it, there is little doubt that they would have labored to produce it whatever the cost.””
“Just as it is disadvantageous for a state to encourage foreign manufactures, so it is also to encourage foreign navigation. When a state sends its articles and goods abroad, it can obtain the full advantage if it sends them in its own ships. This way, trade supports a large number of sailors, who are as useful to the state as workers. If it leaves ocean transportation to foreign vessels, it strengthens foreign navies and weakens its own.””
Richard Cantillon was an influential Irish-French economist and author, best known for his seminal work, 'Essai sur le commerce'. Born in the late 17th century, Cantillon's writings laid the groundwor...