François Quesnay

François Quesnay (1694–1774) was a French physician and economist who founded Physiocracy and created the Tableau économique, an early model of wealth circulation.

Physiocracy: An eighteenth-century economic school that held agriculture to be the source of society’s net product. Quesnay founded this school and gave its land-centered account of wealth its clearest expression.
Tableau économique zigzag: The zigzag diagram in Quesnay’s Tableau économique, tracing exchanges and expenditure between social classes. Its paths show how an initial agricultural product circulates through the economy.
Louis XV: King of France from 1715 to 1774, during a period of political and fiscal strain. Quesnay served as physician to Louis XV and worked within the royal court.
Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau: A French nobleman and economic writer who became a leading advocate of Physiocracy. Mirabeau helped publicize Quesnay’s theories and organize the Physiocratic school.
Laissez-faire: A doctrine favoring limited government interference in economic activity. Physiocrats used the principle to argue against restrictions on trade and agricultural markets.
Tableau économique: Quesnay’s diagrammatic model of how annual production and income circulate among social classes. This model made Physiocracy’s theory of economic circulation concrete.
Productive class: In Physiocracy, farmers and agricultural laborers who generate the net product from land. Quesnay’s circulation begins with this class’s agricultural output.
Madame de Pompadour: A French royal favorite, patron of the arts, and influential figure at the court of Louis XV. Her court circle helped connect Quesnay with influential political and intellectual figures.
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours: A French economist and writer who promoted Physiocracy and later emigrated to the United States. Du Pont de Nemours edited and disseminated Physiocratic writings associated with Quesnay.
Land tax: A tax imposed on the value or income of land. Quesnay proposed taxing land rent as the single tax, following his account of where net product arose.

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