Tableau économique

The Tableau économique (tablo ekɔnɔmik) or Economic Table is an economic model first described by French economist François Quesnay in 1758, which laid the foundation of the Physiocratic school of economics. Quesnay believed that trade and industry were not sources of wealth, and instead in his 1758 manuscript Tableau économique (Economic Table) argued that agricultural surpluses, by flowing through the economy in the form of rent, wages, and purchases were the real economic movers. The model Quesnay created consisted of three economic movers. The "Proprietary" class consisted of only landowners. The "Productive" class consisted of all agricultural laborers. The "Sterile" class is made up of artisans and merchants. The flow of production and/or cash between the three classes started with the Proprietary class because they own the land and they buy from both of the other classes. The process has these steps (consult Figure 1). The farmer produces 1,500 food on land leased from the landlord. Of that 1,500, he retains 600 food to feed himself, his livestock, and any laborers he hires. He sells the remaining 900 in the market for $1 per unit of food. He keeps$300 ($150 for himself,$150 for his laborer) to buy non-farm goods (clothes, household goods, etc.) from the merchants and artisans. This produces $600 of net profit, to which Quesnay refers as product net. The artisan produces 750 units of crafts. To produce at that level, he needs 300 units of food and 150 units of foreign goods. He also has subsistence need of 150 units of food and 150 units of crafts to keep himself alive during the year. The total is 450 units of food, 150 units of crafts, and 150 units of foreign goods. He buys$450 of food from the farmer and $150 of goods from the merchant, and he sells 600 units of crafts at the market for$600. Because the artisan must use the cash he made selling his crafts to buy raw materials for the next year’s production, he has no net profit. The landlord is only a consumer of food and crafts and produces no product.