Quensay

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FRANCOIS QUENSAY (1694-1774)

Quensay published a variety of different economic texts, but his major contribution to economics came through the ‘Tableau Economique’. In the ‘Tableau Economique’ Quensay divides society into three classes:

LANDOWNERS
FARMERS & LABOURERS
OTHERS = ‘Sterile’

Quensay felt that only the agricultural sector produced any surplus value, as the rest of society consumed what was produced by the agricultural sector. The sterile part of society, was the consumers who were essential in that they consumed what was produced by the agricultural sector.

Quensay argued the need for a single tax to be imposed on the agricultural sector as opposed to taxes at various levels to nurture and maintain the sector.

Quensay’s main contribution to economic theory was the concept of surplus, not merely from an accounting perspective but how surplus is created from origin and how it is used to generate more wealth. The underlying notion was that surplus was the basically the profit generated after a crop had been harvested with all the costs such as the raw seeds and labour charges, landlord rent being taken out.

The basic premise was the surplus or net product, as defined by Quensay, would be distributed amongst the landlords and the farmers as a result of the sterile classes wishing to consume. Often the landlords would receive the highest proportion of the surplus, thereby generating increased wealth for themselves. Quensay argued that it should be the landlords who paid the single tax, as they benefited the most from owning the land and taking the lions share of the surplus.

Agriculture was seen as the only productive sector in society at the time, and the taxation of the surplus value was seen as the only way of avoiding damage to future production.

The main features of the economy as described by Quensay were:

In agriculture there are best methods of cultivation, with large capital stock and high productivity, so that the annual advances can produce a surplus year on year.
There is the notion of a single tax, which should be used to replace taxation and duties at differing levels.
Free trade via free competition both in domestic and foreign trade will result in cheaper prices in agricultural products locally and allow for greater profits when exporting and importing products.

The work of Quensay greatly influenced that of Adam Smith, in the design of ‘The Wealth of Nations’

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