Quesnay’s Tableau Economique: An Expository Note
by Cihan Bilginsoy (Sept. 1991)
Francois Quesney’s Tableau is reformulated as a two-sector linear system. Stationary state interclass exchanges are described by a sequential accounting Tableau of real and monetary holdings of each class at each step of the circulation process. A diagrammatic framework is also set up to illustrate the Physiocratic equilibrium. These tools are used to evaluate Quesnay’s policy prescriptions against conspicuous consumption, indirect taxes on agriculture, and deviations from the proper price. It is shown that either these maxims are inconsistent with the underlying theory or arguments advanced in their favor are deficient.
Published: Oxford Economic Papers, July 1994; 46(3): 519-33.