Project Gutenberg 2005-05-31 Public domain in the USA. 756 Bastiat, Frédéric 1801 1850 Bastiat, Frederic Bastiat, Claude Frédéric Essays on Political Economy Produced by Distributed Proofreaders "Essays on Political Economy" by Frédéric Bastiat is a collection of economic essays written in the mid-19th century. The work critically examines the principles surrounding capital, interest, and the impact of governmental policies on society and economics. Bastiat argues against the prevalent ideology that views the charging of interest as unjust, and emphasizes the natural, lawful role of interest in economic transactions and society. At the start of the text, Bastiat introduces the concept of interest, addressing concerns held by socialists and reformers who consider it a form of exploitation. He engages with challenging questions regarding whether capital should yield interest, and if such interest should be perpetual. Through examples, such as the economic implications of lending a sack of corn or a plane, he illustrates the reciprocal nature of lending and borrowing. Bastiat articulates that denying interest undermines the incentives for saving and capital production, ultimately harming the very laborers that socialists aim to protect. He sets the stage for a broader discussion on economic interactions and advocates for a free market approach that favors individuals' rights to their gains. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 66.3 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Economics HB Text Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches Category: Economics 386386 2025-08-07T05:02:43.762380 text/html 383956 2020-12-14T13:50:24 text/html 215526 2025-08-07T05:02:50.900333 application/epub+zip 214109 2025-08-07T05:02:46.622343 application/epub+zip 205659 2025-08-07T05:02:45.489380 application/epub+zip 401241 2025-08-07T05:02:54.256371 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 376951 2025-08-07T05:02:50.180342 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 335747 2022-09-08T00:37:12.453208 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 372434 2025-08-07T05:02:43.214370 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 372232 2020-12-14T13:50:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 372214 2020-12-14T13:50:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 372209 2020-12-14T13:50:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 22150 2025-08-07T05:02:54.380317 application/rdf+xml 13552 2025-08-07T05:02:46.010358 image/jpeg 3568 2025-08-07T05:02:45.736347 image/jpeg 134133 2020-12-14T13:50:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 134096 2020-12-14T13:50:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 136887 2020-12-14T13:50:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 134054 2020-12-14T13:50:24 application/octet-stream application/zip 205911 2025-08-07T05:02:43.793393 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia fr.wikipedia