Jean Baptiste Say, the hidden business man

Abstract

Jean-Baptiste Say is a member of the French ideologues school and his work is an attempt to untangle the methodological maze established by Adam Smith. Although he belongs to the era of liberal ideas, his vision is less objective and more associated with human behavior, which he considers important to understanding economics. His ideas are more akin to the thought of Richard Cantillon and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot. Say rethinks the methodology of economics and establishes the importance of the entrepreneur as the motor of action in this discipline. His proposals go far beyond the simple statement of the so-called Say's Law where the supply determines demand.