Bouquins De Et Sur Bastiat

[Copeau]

Même procédé que pour d'autres fils, vous êtes invités à laisser ici vos commentaires et impressions sur les bouquins de Bastiat ou le concernant. Ou bien sûr à compléter cette liste non exhaustive.

Je commence avec les Oeuvres économiques, livre assez court.

Il s'agit d'un recueil de textes et pamphlets de Frédéric.

[Copeau]

Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas : Choix de sophismes et de pamphlets économiques

Je le connais pas, celui-là.

[Copeau]

L'Etat, c'est toi !

Ouvrage lui aussi très bref, mais sorti il y a peu. Le 7 octobre 1871, Flaubert écrit à George Sand : " Dans trois ans tous les Français peuvent savoir lire. Croyez-vous que nous en serons plus avancés ? Imaginez au contraire que, dans chaque commune, il y ait un bourgeois, un seul, ayant lu Bastiat, et que ce bourgeois-là soit respecté, les choses changeraient ! "

Table des matières

L'Etat

Justice et fraternité

Funestes illusions

Les deux devises

Petites affiches de Jacques Bonhomme

Prendre cinq et rendre quatre ce n'est pas donner

Services privés, service public

[Copeau]

Frédéric bastiat : 1801-1850 : le croisé du libre-échange

http://www.liberaux.org/index.php?showtopi…t=0entry22344

de G. MINART, qui constitue une première approche de la vie et de l'oeuvre de ce grand économiste.

Très documenté, ce livre - que l'ai lu en grande partie en bibliothèque, il y a quelques temps déjà - est une biographie; une valeur ajoutée particulière réside dans la photographie assez complète de l'époque, qui évoque notamment ce qu'on pourrait appeler le "réseau" libéral

Voici une critique d'Alter Eco, qui devrait vous inciter à vous y intéresser si besoin est:

http://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/lec…/NL226_008.html

ils n'ont pas aimé

[Copeau]

Sophismes économiques (1801-1850)

A paraître aux Belles Lettres le 17/01/05.

Bastiat does some gentle and not so gentle poking fun at the Trade Luddites of his era. His defense of free trade is no less relevant today. In fact, with the nonsense we are hearing about trade from political and activist quarters - it is probably even more important today.

[Copeau]

Un libéral, Frédéric Bastiat. Rencontres de Sorèze, Tarn

[Copeau]

Economistes contemporains : frédéric bastiat.

Extrait de la Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Septembre 1858.

[Copeau]

The Law

Frederic Bastiat, who was born two hundred years ago, was a leader of the French laissez-faire tradition in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was influenced by Cobden's Anti-Corn Law League and became a convinced free trader. Joseph Schumpeter described Bastiat as 'the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived'.

In The Law, written in 1850, the year of his death, Bastiat recognises the central importance of the law and morality in a free society. He was concerned that government was using the 'law' to become too active a participant in the economy whilst devoting too little attention to protecting life and liberty.

This Occasional Paper, which reprints an English translation of The Law, includes a new introduction by Professor Norman Barry of the University of Buckingham which places Bastiat's views in their historical context and explains their continuing relevance today.

————————--

I read "The Law" as part of my Civics course this year in highschool, and I'm SOOOOOOOO glad it was required. At 16, I'm scared to death at where my country is heading and this book contains the answers for a government and law system that'd make a country I'd be proud of in every way. This is a book I'd buy in bulk and stuff in newspaper boxes if I had the means -as it is all my friends are going to get it for Christmas along with a glowing report from myself. Heck, who needs to wait for Christmas, ELECTION DAY IS COMING!

This book was originally in a pamphlet format and is a wonderful short summary of what the natures of law and government are and what they should be. But because of this format, many of his arguements are brief, and he acknowledges that not all of them are complete.

He starts out stating the gifts of God to man are: life, liberty and property. Bastiat insists that man is allowed to defend himself, his liberty, and his property, and that "the Law" was created to ensure that society would be allowed to make use of their God-given gifts.

Then the he goes on to explain how "the Law" is abused by men. He states there are two basic ways of living, the first is to work hard and produce, and the second is to plunder and live off of others. When man finds that plundering is easier than work, he will plunder. The only thing that will stop him is if there are consequences that he will have to deal with and dangers that he must risk. Bastiat shows how tempting it is for man to use the law to plunder (how "legal plunder" is the taking of property, which -if done without the benefit of the law- would have been a dealt with as a crime). He goes on to explain how this "legal plundering" will ruin a society and cause economic turmoil.

Bastiat then goes into socialism, and how it plays out in society. He gives examples of various socialist writers, and points out how they view mankind as some raw material that is to be controlled and manipulated. Frederic Bastiat shows how they divide mankind into two classes, with themselves as the nobler of the two, and the rest of man as evil masses that are to be shaped and guided by their own uses of "the Law" and made to be good. They consider themselves to be above the rest, and capable of making better choices than the rest of the world.

Even though it was written in the 1800's, Bastiat writing is extremely relevant today, and deals with the issues of welfare, government schools, and other subsidies of the law that are not to be. He states that "the law is justice" and that "the purpose of the law is to prevent injustice from reigning" for justice only exists when injustice is absent. It clearly defines socialism for what it is and gives various examples of the results of it. This book has to be (as another reviewer has said) the liberal's worst nightmare.

SO READ IT! USE IT! SHARE IT!

[Copeau]

Frederic Bastiat : A Man Alone

Ouvrage de 1971.

[Copeau]

Essays on Political Economy

From the Publisher

From the 1869 preface: "In combating, by arguments and illustrations adapted to the comprehension of the mass of mankind, the errors and sophisms with which protectionists deceive themselves and others, M. Bastiat is the most lucid and pointed of all writers on economical science with whose works I have any acquaintance. It is not necessary to accord him a place among the architects of the science of political economy, although some of his admirers rank him among the highest. It is enough to count him among the greatest of its expounders and demonstrators."

Product Description:

This is a reprint of the 1869 first edition in English, which was translated from the Paris edition of 1869.

[Copeau]

Economic Harmonies

The most challenging of Bastiat's books, _The Economic Harmonies_ should not be entered into lightly. Less polemical than most of his better known works, it is an in-depth exploration of classical economics, and as such, I would generally recommend it only to those who are already fans of Bastiat or who have a solid grounding in economics. Intended to be his magnum opus, Bastiat died before its completion; as a result, the book is really only two-thirds complete. This is the reason for my having rated it just an "8". The editor was kind enough to include Bastiat's notes, where available, for the unfinished chapters, however. With those caveats, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it is both readable and highly informative.