Introduction

Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général should be rightfully considered one of the most important books ever written. It is the first statement of economic theory and not just a single or limited breakthrough, but a comprehensive treatment that explains the organization of commercial society. Prior to Cantillon, writings about the economy were largely driven by considerations of religion, ideology, and interests groups. After Cantillon, there was a scientific model that could be understood and applied.

PART ONE

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Chapter One

Wealth

Abstract: Cantillon defines wealth as the consumption goods produced by land and labor. This contrasted with the Mercantilists who thought money was wealth.

LAND IS THE SOURCE or matter from which all wealth is drawn; man’s labor provides the form for its production, and wealth in itself is nothing but the food, conveniences, and pleasures of life.

Chapter Two

Human Societies

Abstract: All human societies are based on a system of property rights. The distribution of rights will necessarily be unequal, and the use to which property is put will be dependent on the tastes of the owners.

WHICHEVER WAY A SOCIETY of men is formed, the ownership of the land they inhabit will necessarily belong to a small number among them.

Chapter Three

Villages

Abstract: In this first of four chapters on economic geography and location theory, Cantillon explains that settlements are based on the requirements of production, especially the quantity of labor, and the extent of the specialization and division of labor.

Chapter Four

Market Towns

Abstract: Entrepreneurs establish markets in centrally located villages which provide the necessary conditions under which prices are established between supply and demand. The size of the market town depends on the size of the economy it serves.

Chapter Five

Cities

Abstract: Cities form at sites where large property owners have decided to live. Specialization of labor expands to meet the demands of the wealthy. Cities grow even larger when manufacturing industries produce for export, and whose workers are essentially supported by the production of foreign lands. Cantillon placed a great deal of emphasis on transportation costs. He found that property owners who lived far from their lands would experience a reduction in income proportional to the cost of transporting their production to market.

Chapter Six

Capital Cities

Abstract: Wherever a government establishes its capital, the city will grow in size because the additional spending attracts labor and businesses to service the government and its employees and thus, it becomes a commercial center for the nation as well.

Chapter Seven

The Labor of the Plowman is of Less Value than that of the Artisan

Abstract: The opportunity cost of becoming a skilled worker includes both the direct expenses as well as the foregone labor during the training period or apprenticeship. As a result, skilled workers must be paid higher wages than unskilled workers.

A LABORER’S SON, AT SEVEN to twelve years of age, begins to help his father either in keeping the herds, digging the ground, or in other sorts of country labor that require no art or skill.

Chapter Eight

Some Artisans Earn More, Others Less, According to the Different Cases and Circumstances

Abstract: In addition to training and the forces of supply and demand, workers with higher quality skills, risky jobs, or jobs which require trustworthy employees will receive higher wages. This is now known as the theory of compensating differentials that is often attributed to Adam Smith.