The Law, the State, and other political writings, 1843-1850 / Frédéric Bastiat ; Jacques de Guenin, general editor ; translated from the French by Jane Willems and Michel Willems ; with an introduction by Pascal Salin ; annotations and glossaries by Jacques de Guenin Jean-Claude Paul-Dejean, and David M. Hart ; translation editor Dennis O'Keeffe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bastiat, Frédéric, 1801-1850.

Contributor:

Guenin, Jacques de.

Series:

Bastiat, Frédéric, 1801-1850. English. 2011 Works.

The collected works of Frédéric Bastiat

Standardized Title:

Selections. English. 2012

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Economics.

Law.

Property.

France--Politics and government--1830-1848.

France.

Politics and government.

France--Politics and government--1848-1852.

Physical Description:

xxxiii, 492 pages : maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Indianapolis : Liberty Fund, [2012]

Summary:

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was a keen observer of political and economic problems and a passionate proponent of liberal economic theory. "The Law" "The State" and Other Political Writings, 1843-1850, collects nineteen of Bastiat's articles, ranging from the theory of value and rent, public choice and collective action, government intervention and regulation, the balance of trade, education, and trade unions to price controls, capital and growth, and taxation. Throughout his articles, Bastiat demonstrates how the combination of careful logic, consistency of principle, and clarity of exposition is the instrument for solving most economic and social problems.

In his famous essay "The Law" Bastiat explains that the law, far from being what it ought to be, "namely the instrument that enabled the state to protect individuals' rights and property," had become the means for what he termed "spoliation" (or plunder). From the article "The State," written at the height of the 1848 Revolution in June, comes perhaps his best-remembered quotation: "The state is the great fiction by which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else."

In this volume readers will find extensive introductory material, including notes on the translation and on the editions of the CEuvres completes, a chronology of Bastiat's life and works, two maps of France showing the cities associated with Bastiat, annotations to the articles, and a bibliography. A special section provides charming, little-known anecdotes about Bastiat and his contemporaries, including his editor Prosper Paillottet, who became Bastiat's firm friend and eventually his executor. This section also includes discussions of key concepts such as individualism, laissez-faire, industry, plunder, and the right to work. Three glossaries explain persons, places, and subjects and terms. Book jacket.

Contents:

Reflections on the petitions from Bordeaux, Le Havre, and Lyons relating to the Customs Service

The tax authorities and wine

On the wine-growing question

Property and law

Justice and fraternity

Individualism and fraternity

The state

The state (draft )

The law

Property and plunder

Baccalaureate and socialism

Protectionism and communism

Plunder and law

The war against chairs of political economy

Peace and freedom or the republican budget

Discourse on the tax on wines and spirits

The repression of industrial unions

Reflections on the amendment of M. Mortimer-Ternaux

Parliamentary conflicts of interest.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780865978294

0865978298

9780865978300

0865978301

OCLC:

781848486