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In the history of
classical liberalism Claude Frédéric Bastiat is a unique
figure. He was only productive in liberal causes for a period of a few
years. But he was the preeminent advocate of liberal thinking in
France during a crucial stage of history. His efforts for free trade are
directly linked to major legislative changes in France which took place after
his untimely death. Within a few decades Bastiat sank into obscurity only
to have his works and ideas resurrected a century later.
Frédéric Bastiat was born in a Bayonne, a tiny French town on the Bay
of Biscay. The exact date of his birth is even in dispute but it is known
that he was born in June of 1801. After the death of his mother in 1808
Frederic moved, with his father, to Mugron. His father too, as was common in
those days, died while Bastiat was just a boy, in 1810. Again various
biographies dispute what happened next. Some argue that Bastiat became a ward of
his grandparents while others say he was left under the guardianship of an
Aunt.
While no one doubted Frédéric's intelligence he didn't seem
particularly interested in his academic work. He enrolled at the Benedictine
College of Soreze but never finished his degree. His father had once lamented
that he had "a lazy streak that is without equal".
Frederic went to work with an uncle in Bayonne and the family trading
business peaked an interest in Bastiat to study political economy and
philosophy. He read the works of Jean-Baptist Say, Adam Smith, Destutt
de Tracy, Charles Dunoyer, Charles Comte and other liberal thinkers. He
seriously considered returning to academia to finish his schooling but
his grandfather's death in 1825 change that. Frederic was now the heir to
a large estate and his interest in modern technological methods of
farming inspired him. But efforts on his part to persuade others that new
technology could help French farmers fell on deaf ears. A trend in France that
has not changed much in the last 150 years.
But as a result Felix Coudroy, the owner of a nearby estate, and
Bastiat struck up a life-long friendship. Coudroy was a socialist and the two
of them would engage in periods of intense debate and study on the
differences between liberalism and socialism. Dean Russell, in Frederic Bastiat:
Ideas and Influence wrote: "Coudroy and Bastiat, worked their way through a
tremendous number of books on philosophy, history, politics, religion,
travel, poetry, political economy, biography and so on....
It was in
these conversations that the ideas of Bastiat developed and his thoughts
matured."
Thomas de Lorenzo says: "Coudroy was initially a follower of Rousseau
and, like most of Rousseau's admirers, then as now, was a socialist. But Bastiat,
who always said he preferred a one-on-one conversation to giving a
speech to thousands of people, converted Coudroy to classical liberalism." The
two were in almost daily contact until Bastiat's death.
In 1831 Bastiat married briefly but he and his new bride were
immediately estranged from one another. Details of the relationship, like much of
Bastiat's life, remain clouded by history.
In 1844 Bastiat had his first article published. A group of merchants
had petitioned the government to remove tariffs on agricultural products
but wanted tariffs retained on manufactured goods. Bastiat noted the
hypocrisy and stated the basic premise that he would defend until his death:
"You demand privilege for a few, I demand liberty for all." But it was only
ten years later that Bastiat again saw print. He submitted an article to
the prestigious Journal des Economistes entitled "The Influence of English
and French Tariffs" which was published in October of that year. Suddenly,
as de Lorenzo notes "articles began to pour out of Bastiat". In a short time
his first book Economic Sophism, which became a best seller, was published
to be shortly followed by Economic Harmonies. His essays and articles
were published all over France.
In 1846 he was elected to the French Academy of Science. And his work
was translated into all the major European languages. Bastiat was the
founder of the French Free Trade Association. He became close friends with
British free trade advocate and Liberal parliamentarian Richard Cobden in 1845. He
was also founder of the weekly newspaper Le Libre Echange. Europe in the
late 1840s was perilously close to moving toward communism and Bastiat
sought to fight this trend. He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly
in 1848 and became a champion of classical liberalism.
Turmoil in France was increasing and the people had forced the king
from power. The Assembly stumbled about looking for the proper social
organization to replace monarchy. And while Bastiat sat on the Left of
the Assembly he found himself caught in the middle. Despite failing health
he valiantly opposed various socialist and protectionist schemes while
fighting, at the same time, efforts by monarchists and militarists.
But Bastiat knew he had only a short time to live. Tuberculosis was
ravaging his body. In spite of his ill health, perhaps because of it, Bastiat
threw himself into the cause of individual freedom. His last work,
The Law,
also became his best known and has sold hundreds of thousands copies in the
last few decades. Bastiat died in Rome on Christmas Eve in 1850.
Bastiat's popularity was due to his razor sharp wit and his use of
satire to ridicule his socialist opponents. Sheldon Richman, editor of Ideas on
Liberty, noted: "Bastiat marshaled logic, clarity and exuberant wit in
the cause of understanding society, prosperity, and liberty. In a series
of brief essays and pamphlets, and a treatise on political economy." His
opponents and his admirers all had compliments, though his opponents' compliments were of the backhanded variety. Karl Marx said that
Bastiat was "the shallowest and therefore the most successful representative of
the apologists of vulgar economics." While Joseph Schumpeter said that Bastiat
"was no theorist" in economics he did recognize him as
"the most
brilliant economic journalist who ever lived." Bob McTeer, president of the
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, specifically disagreed with Schumpeter's claim
that Bastiat was not a real economist: "Being the all-time world-champion
economic educator makes him a first-rate economist by any standard."
Schumpeter's remark about Bastiat's writing skill is due to the
clarity of thought and persuasiveness of Bastiat's arguments. F.A. Hayek
recognized that Bastiat "had an insight into what was significant and a gift for
going to the heart of the matter would have provided him with ample material
for real contributions to science." Perhaps if Bastiat's life had not been
cut short he would have just those contributions. Henry Hazlitt, author of
the best-selling Economics in One Lesson, acknowledged that much of his
book was based on the observations of Bastiat. He said Bastiat's cutting satire
on socialist schemes made him a "master of reductio
ad absurdum." Hazlitt
wrote: "What he was, beyond all other men, was an economic
Pamphleteer, the greatest exposer of economic fallacies, the most powerful champion of
free trade on the European Continent.... Anyone who has ever read and
understood Bastiat must be immune to the protectionist disease, or the illusions
of the Welfare State, except in a very attenuated form. Bastiat killed
protectionism and socialism with ridicule."
Bastiat was light years ahead of his contemporaries. As we shall see in
part two (yet to come) his ideas foreshadowed those of some of the most important
contributions to classical liberal and libertarian thinking.
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