Who Was Frédéric Bastiat?
By: James Peron
Tags: Economics, Protectionism, Frédéric Bastiat, Free Trade, Classical Liberalism

In the history of classical liberalism Claude Frédéric Bastiat is a unique

figure. He was only productive in liberal causes for a period of a few

years, but he was the preeminent advocate of liberal thinking in France

during a crucial stage of history. His efforts for free trade are directly

linked to major legislative changes in France which took place after his

untimely death. Within a few decades Bastiat sank into obscurity only to

have his works and ideas resurrected a century later.

Frédéric Bastiat was born in a Bayonne, a tiny French town on the Bay of

Biscay. The exact date of his birth is even in dispute but it is known that

he was born in June of 1801. After the death of his mother in 1808 Frédéric

moved, with his father, to Mugron. His father too, as was common in those

days, died while Bastiat was just a boy, in 1810. Again various biographies

dispute what happened next. Some argue Bastiat became a ward of his

grandparents while others say he was left under the guardianship of an Aunt.

While no one doubted Frederic’s intelligence he didn’t seem particularly

interested in his academic work. He enrolled at the Benedictine College of

Soreze but never finished his degree. His father had once lamented that he

had “a lazy streak that is without equal.”

Frédéric went to work with an uncle in Bayonne and the family trading

business peaked an interest in Bastiat to study political economy and

philosophy. He read the works of Jean-Baptist Say, Adam Smith, Destutt de

Tracy, Charles Dunoyer, Charles Comte and other liberal thinkers. He

seriously considered returning to academia to finish his schooling but his

grandfather¹s death in 1825 change that. Frédéric was now the heir to a

large estate and his interest in modern technological methods of farming

inspired him. But efforts on his part to persuade others that new technology

could help French farmers fell on deaf ears. A trend in France that has not

change much in the last 150 years.

As a result Félix Coudroy, the owner of a nearby estate, and Bastiat

struck up a life-long friendship. Coudroy was a socialist and the two of

them would engage in periods of intense debate and study on the differences

between liberalism and socialism. Dean Russell, in Frederic Bastiat: Ideas

and Influence wrote: “Coudroy and Bastiat, worked their way through a

tremendous number of books on philosophy, history, politics, religion,

travel, poetry, political economy, biography and so on…. It was in these

conversations that the ideas of Bastiat developed and his thoughts matured.”

Thomas de Lorenzo says: “Coudroy was initially a follower of Rousseau and,

like most of Rousseau’s admirers, then as now, was a socialist. But Bastiat,

who always said he preferred a one-on-one conversation to giving a speech to thousands of people, converted Coudroy to classical liberalism.” The two

were in almost daily contact until Bastiat¹s death.

In 1831 Bastiat married briefly but he and his new bride were immediately

estranged from one another. Details of the relationship, like much of

Bastiat’s life, remain clouded by history. The woman, Marie Hiard, was wealthy and Bastiat needed the funds at the time for the family property. They married and then basically never saw one another after that, she pretty much disappears from his life. Some indicate Marie was pregnant and may have given birth to a son. Bastiat inherited an estate in financial difficulty, he needed cash and Marie needed a husband, even if they never lived together. Bastiat’s financial problems were solved and Marie’s reputation was saved. If she did have a child Bastiat never took an interest in the infant according to his letters, implying the child was not his.

A collection of Bastiat’s correspondence says: “Bastiat never mentions his wife in his long and detailed correspondence. It appears as if his marriage to her was one strictly of convenience, to finance his estate. …After their marriage, he apparently had no intimate life with her; and, although he took care of her financially, he left her in the custody of his Aunt Justine.” The editor says his relationship with his wife was “essentially nonexistent.”

When Bastiat was at home in Mugron he spent every day with Félix Coudroy, and when he was away he wrote Coudroy regularly, repeatedly as “my dear Félix.” The Catholic Encyclopedia described Coudroy as Bastiat’s “able, dearly loved and lifelong friend.” His entire adult life revolved around Félix(in person when possible, by letter when not). Coudroy and Bastiat shared the same interests and would read the same books and discuss them for hours on end.

Not much seems known about Coudroy. Correspondence from Bastiat to him asks him to give Frédéric’s regards to his sister. Presumably had Félix himself been married Bastiat would send his regards to his friend’s wife. The implication of the letter is Félix lived with his sister, not with a wife. This was in 1850 when both men were 49-years-old, and the year Bastiat died of tuberculosis. Numerous previous letters also mention Coudroy’s sister, though not by name, while none mention a wife.

Bastiat only vaguely references the feeling of love for another in a letter he wrote Coudroy explaining his move to Paris, “I must quit Mugron. I must separate myself from those I love.” Could that be a reference to Coudroy himself? Certainly, if the volume of letters he sent mean anything Coudroy was very important to him. The letters he sent Coudroy span from 1824 to shortly before Bastiat’s death in 1850.

In 1844 Bastiat had his first article published. A group of merchants had

petitioned the government to remove tariffs on agricultural products but

wanted tariffs retained on manufactured goods. Bastiat noted the hypocrisy

and stated the basic premise that he would defend until his death: “You

demand privilege for a few, I demand liberty for all.” But it was only ten

years later that Bastiat again saw print. He submitted an article to the

prestigious Journal des Economistes entitled “The Influence of English and

French Tariffs” which was published in October of that year. Suddenly, as de

Lorenzo notes “articles began to pour out of Bastiat.” In a short time his

first book Economic Sophism, which became a best seller, was published to

be shortly followed by Economic Harmonies. His essays and articles were

published all over France.

In 1846 he was elected to the French Academy of Science, and his work was

translated into all the major European languages. Bastiat was the founder of

the French Free Trade Association. He became close friends with British free

trade advocate and Liberal parliamentarian Richard Cobden in 1845. He was also founder of the weekly newspaper Le Libre Echange. Europe in the late 1840s was perilously close to moving toward communism and Bastiat sought to fight this trend. He was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1848 and became a champion of classical liberalism.

Turmoil in France was increasing and the people had forced the king from

power. The Assembly stumbled about looking for the proper social

organization to replace monarchy. And while Bastiat sat on the Left of the

Assembly he found himself caught in the middle. Despite failing health he

valiantly opposed various socialist and protectionist schemes while

fighting, at the same time, efforts by monarchists and militarists.

Bastiat knew he had only a short time to live; tuberculosis was ravaging

his body. In spite of his ill health, perhaps because of it, Bastiat threw

himself into the cause of individual freedom. His last work, The Law, also

became his best known and has sold hundreds of thousands copies in the last few decades. Bastiat died in Rome on Christmas Eve in 1850.

Bastiat’s popularity was due to his razor sharp wit and his use of satire to

ridicule his socialist opponents. Ideas on Liberty, noted: “Bastiat marshaled logic, clarity and exuberant wit in the cause of understanding society, prosperity, and liberty. In a series of brief essays and pamphlets, and a treatise on political economy.” His opponents and his admirers all had compliments, though his opponents’ compliments were of the backhanded variety. Karl Marx said Bastiat was “the shallowest and therefore the most successful representative of the apologists of vulgar economics.” While Joseph Schumpeter said Bastiat “was no theorists” in economics he did recognize him as “the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived.” Bob McTeer, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, specifically disagreed with Schumpeter’s claim Bastiat was not a real economist: “Being the all-time world-champion economic educator makes him a first-rate economist by any standard.”

Schumpeter’s remark about Bastiat’s writing skill is due to the clarity of

thought and persuasiveness of Bastiat¹s arguments. F.A. Hayek recognized

that Bastiat “had an insight into what was significant and a gift for going

to the heart of the matter would have provided him with ample material for

real contributions to science.” Perhaps if Bastiat’s life had not been cut

short he would have just those contributions. Henry Hazlitt, author of the

best-selling Economics in One Lesson, acknowledged that much of his book was based on the observations of Bastiat. He said Bastiat’s cutting satire on

socialist schemes made him a “master of reductio ad absurdum.” Hazlitt

wrote: “What he was, beyond all other men, was an economic Pamphleteer, the greatest exposer of economic fallacies, the most powerful champion of free trade on the European Continent…. Anyone who has ever read and understood Bastiat must be immune to the protectionist disease, or the illusions of the Welfare State, except in a very attenuated form. Bastiat killed

protectionism and socialism with ridicule.”

Bastiat was light years ahead of his contemporaries. His ideas foreshadowed those of some of the most important contributions to classical liberal and libertarian thinking.