The Political Failure of an Economic Theory: Physiocracy

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Charbit Yves.- The Political Failure of an Economic Theory: Physiocracy Physiocracy, the "rule of nature", which held agriculture to be the sole source of wealth, was the first theoretical account of the relationship between the economy and population. The centrality of agriculture is the key to understanding the theory of population. Population is a dependent variable, and from this a number of implications flow concerning luxury, free trade, the fiscal system, and the army. The "Physiocratic movement" failed, however, to win acceptance for its system and this political failure was inextricably linked to the theoretical construct. The Physiocrats' strategy for development lacked credibility compared with the alternatives, in particular colonial trade. Also damaging was the association of their views with the fear of famine. Finally, they were unable to resolve the impossible contradictions between rigour in economic theory and the pressure of political realities. The result was their near total isolation.

Historiography has completely reconsidered the place of demographic thought in eighteenth-century political economy. Yves Charbit presents these new approaches through an examination of the Physiocrats. This contribution to the Enlightenment considered the number of people, the factors determining it, and its effects on the economic well-being of the nation. The author compares the Physiocrats' arguments with those of Malthus, examines their fierce opposition to mercantilism, and in the process gives an analysis of the historical causes of their political failure. He highlights the genesis of their fundamental theoretical contribution — agriculture is the exclusive source of a country's wealth — and its consequences in terms of population. The analysis of their failure makes it possible to situate ideas in their historical context.

Charbit Yves.- El fracaso politico de una teoria economical la fisiocracia La fisiocracia, el "gobierno de la naturaleza", que considéra a la agricultura como la fuente exclusiva de riqueza, es la primera teoria de las relaciones entre la economia y la pobla- ción. La posición otorgada a la agricultura permite comprender la teoria de la población: esta es una variable dependiente y de ella se derivan varias imphcaciones relativas al lujo, a la libertad de comercio, al sistema impositivo y a los ejércitos. No obstante, el "movimiento fisiocrático" no logró imponer su modelo; su fracaso politico es indisociable de su construcción teórica: en comparación con otřas alternativas, y en particular con la opción del comercio colonial, su estrategia de desarollo era poco convincente; sufrió las consecuencias de la amalgama que se hizo entre esta teoria y el miedo al hambre; se encerró en contradicciones insolubles entre el rigor de la teoria económica y la presión de los retos pohticos. Todo ello denvó en su marginación casi total.