François Quesnay (1694–1774), a French economist who founded the Physiocratic School of economic thought. Quesnay’s original contribution, and the basis of physiocracy, held that all wealth originated from the land and that agriculture alone could increase and multiply wealth. Industry and commerce, according to the physiocrats, were basically “sterile” and could not add to the wealth created by the land. His chief work was the Tableau économique (economic table), published in 1758; it is said to have been printed by the King’s own hands. Quesnay and his followers believed that the Tableau summed up the natural law of economy. Quesnay and other physiocrats greatly influenced the views of Adam Smith and the fields of biophysical and ecological economics in the 20th century.

François Quesnay (1694–1774), a French economist who founded the Physiocratic School of economic thought. Quesnay’s original contribution, and the basis of physiocracy, held that all wealth originated from the land and that agriculture alone could increase and multiply wealth. Industry and commerce, according to the physiocrats, were basically “sterile” and could not add to the wealth created by the land. His chief work was the Tableau économique (economic table), published in 1758; it is said to have been printed by the King’s own hands. Quesnay and his followers believed that the Tableau summed up the natural law of economy. Quesnay and other physiocrats greatly influenced the views of Adam Smith and the fields of biophysical and ecological economics in the 20th century.