Was Jean-Baptiste Say a Market Anarchist?

Jean-Baptiste is certainly best known for his famous Law of Markets (la loi des débouchés) also referred to as Say's Law. Though Say's Law is one of the key points of the classical school of economics, the manner in which this obvious proposition has been distorted and misinterpreted in a significant number of economic textbooks as well as in lectures of certified professors of economics is simply perplexing. As a consequence, Say's achievements are often abridged to some incoherent assertion that "supply creates its own demand."For a correct exposition of Say's Law, see Say's biography at mises.org. But Jean-Baptiste Say has much more to offer than his Law of Markets. Actually, he had already conceived a society without government long before Gustave De Molinari, who is often considered as being "the first writer to draw the conclusion that government could, in effect, be replaced by competing companies or agencies offering to provide security and protection."Amongst others: "Remembering Gustav de Molinari." It is my endeavor to show that Say was conscious of the shortcomings of governmental services in terms of the security and organization of society as such.This article is greatly inspired by the writings of Philippe Steiner who is co-editor of the compilation of Say's Oeuvres Complètes (Paris: Economica, 2003) and the author of some precious contributions on Say in the recently published Histoire du Libéralisme (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2006) which I strongly recommend to every francophile reader. In the third session of his Cours à l'Athénée,These lectures were given in 1819 which is also the year in which Gustave De Molinari was born. The Athénée was a private school founded in 1781. With the arrival of Jean-Baptiste Say, political economy began to be taught (Marivault, Auguste Walras and others succeded Say). The lectures were as an introduction to economics for the "profanes," (lay people). Say explains that the supply of society is assured by the individuals who actually compose it. Furthermore, he notes that the disposal of capital is due to the private savings and precaution of individuals who, rather than destroying their savings, build their savings with the intention of creating new products. Likewise, he considers how these products come into the hands of those who need them, concluding that this is the result of interpersonal exchanges. As a result of this conclusion, he raises the following final question: Have we found the government in this analysis up to now?2003. Oeuvres Complètes, IV. Leçons d'Economie Politique, p. 101. Again, he provides an answer: No. And the reason of this is the fact that government is not at all an essential part of the social organization.2003. Oeuvres Complètes, IV. Leçons d'Economie Politique, p. 101. Thus, society could work without government management if people carried out their business and let other people carry out their business at the same time. Say underlines his position by giving some historical examples. Writing in 1819, he observes that at times during the previous thirty years, France had found itself in a situation in which all the authorities were suddenly halted. In these critical moments, no government was at all existent. And what does Say observe? During these periods, the essential functions of the social body could not have been carried out in a better way: everything worked, better than would have normally been the case. Say states that the worst occurred in times when people were too much governed. Endeavoring to strengthen his position, he brings up another example, this time from overseas. In Kentucky, there are "cantons" in which one family would settle and take root, after which another family would move into the area, and so forth until the formation of villages occurred. There were houses, clothes, and food, and the people were better nourished than many households in the rue Jean-pain-molletThe editors of Say's Oeuvres Complètes did not find the origins of this expression. and yet there was no government. His observations lead him to declare that one can not only conceive a society without government but one can actually see it; the only problem is the journey overseas. Likewise, Say correctly argues that social life is not in the government but in the governed. As a consequence, the old representations of the state as a family and the chief executive of the administration as the father are not accurate at all. According to Say, all productive enterprises are created by individuals in society, not by the state. It is the responsibility of productive enterprise to support the continuity of families, the components of society. Likewise, if there are government officials in the society, they exist at the people's expense. Only those who refuse to acknowledge this realit