Jacques Turgot

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne ( ; ; 10 May 172718 March 1781), commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Originally considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic liberalism. He is thought to be the first economist to have recognized the law of diminishing marginal returns in agriculture.

Education

Born in Paris, Turgot was the youngest son of Michel-Étienne Turgot, " provost of the merchants" of Paris, and Madeleine Francoise Martineau de Brétignolles, and came from an old Norman family. As one of four children, he had a younger sister and two older brothers, one of whom, Étienne-François Turgot (1721–1789), was a naturalist, and served as administrator of Malta and governor of French Guiana. Anne Robert Jacques was educated for the Church, and at the Sorbonne, to which he was admitted in 1749 (being then styled ''abbé de Brucourt''). He delivered two remarkable Latin dissertations, ''On the Benefits which the Christian Religion has conferred on Mankind'', and ''On the Historical Progress of the Human Mind''. In 1750 he decided not to take holy orders, giving as his reason that "he could not bear to wear a mask all his life."

The first sign of Turgot's interest in economics is a letter (1749) on paper money, written to his fellow-student the abbé de Cicé, refuting the abbé Jean Terrasson's defence of John Law's system. He was fond of verse-making, and tried to introduce into French verse the rules of Latin prosody, his translation of the fourth book of the ''Aeneid'' into classical hexameter verses being greeted by Voltaire as "the only ''prose'' translation in which he had found any enthusiasm."

Idea of progress

The first complete statement of the Idea of Progress is that of Turgot, in his "A Philosophical Review of the Successive Advances of the Human Mind" (1750). For Turgot progress covers not simply the arts and sciences but, on their base, the whole of culture – manner, mores, institutions, legal codes, economy, and society.

Early appointments

In 1752, he became ''substitut'', and later ''conseiller'' in the parlement of Paris, and in 1753 ''maître des requêtes''. In 1754 he was a member of the ''chambre royale'' which sat during an exile of the ''parlement''. In Paris he frequented the salons, especially those of Mme de Graffigny – whose niece, Mlle de Ligniville ("Minette"), later Mme Helvétius, he is supposed at one time to have wished to marry; they remained lifelong friends – Mme Geoffrin, Mme du Deffand, Mlle de Lespinasse and the Duchesse d'Enville. It was during this period that he met the leaders of the "physiocratic" school, Quesnay and Vincent de Gournay, and with them Dupont de Nemours, the abbé Morellet and other economists.

In 1743 and 1756, he accompanied Gournay, the intendant of commerce, during Gournay's tours of inspection in the provinces. (Gournay's bye-word on the government's proper involvement in the economy – ''" laisser faire, laisser passer"'' – would pass into the vocabulary of economics.) In 1760, while travelling in the east of France and Switzerland, he visited Voltaire, who became one of his chief friends and supporters. All this time he was studying various branches of science, and languages both ancient and modern. In 1753 he translated the ''Questions sur le commerce'' from the English of Josias Tucker, and in 1754 he wrote his ''Lettre sur la tolérance civile'', and a pamphlet, ''Le Conciliateur'', in support of religious tolerance. Between 1755 and 1756 he composed various articles for the ''Encyclopédie'', and between 1757 and 1760 an article on ''Valeurs des monnaies'', probably for the ''Dictionnaire du commerce'' of the abbé Morellet. In 1759 appeared his work ''Eloge de Gournay''.

Intendant of Limoges, 1761–1774

In August 1761, Turgot was appointed ''intendant'' (tax collector) of the ''genéralité'' of Limoges, which included some of the poorest and most over-taxed parts of France; here he remained for thirteen years. He was already deeply imbued with the theories of Quesnay and Gournay, and set to work to apply them as far as possible in his province. His first plan was to continue the work, already initiated by his predecessor Tourny, of making a fresh survey of the land (cadastre), in order to arrive at a more just assessment of the ''taille''; he also obtained a large reduction in the contribution of the province. He published his ''Avis sur l'assiette et la repartition de la taille'' (1762–1770), and as president of the ''Société d'agriculture de Limoges'' offered prizes for essays on the principles of taxation. Quesnay and Mirabeau had advocated a proportional tax (''impôt de quotité''), but Turgot proposed a distributive tax (''impôt de repartition''). Another reform was the substitution for the ''corvée'' of a tax in money levied on the whole province, the construction of roads being handed over to contractors, by which means Turgot was able to leave his province with a good system of highways, while distributing more justly the expense of their construction.

In 1769, he wrote his ''Mémoire sur les prêts à intérêt'', on the occasion of a scandalous financial crisis at Angoulême, the particular interest of which is that in it the question of lending money at interest was for the first time treated scientifically, and not merely from the ecclesiastical point of view. Turgot's opinion was that a compromise had to be reached between both methods. Among other works written during Turgot's intendancy were the ''Mémoire sur les mines et carrières'', and the ''Mémoire sur la marque des fers'', in which he protested against state regulation and interference and advocated free competition. At the same time he did much to encourage agriculture and local industries, among others establishing the manufacture of porcelain at Limoges. During the famine of 1770–1771 he enforced on landowners "the obligation of relieving the poor" and especially the '' métayers'' (sharecroppers) dependent upon them, and organized in every province ''ateliers'' and ''bureaux de charité'' for providing work for the able-bodied and relief for the infirm, while at the same time he condemned indiscriminate charity. Turgot always made the curés the agents of his charities and reforms when possible. It was in 1770 that he wrote his famous ''Lettres sur la liberté du commerce des grains'', addressed to the controller-general, the abbé Terray. Three of these letters have disappeared, having been sent to Louis XVI by Turgot at a later date and never recovered, but those remaining argue that free trade in grain is in the interest of landowner, farmer and consumer alike, and in forcible terms demand the removal of all restrictions.

''Réflexions''

Turgot's best known work, '' Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth'', was written early in the period of his intendancy, ostensibly for the benefit of two young Chinese scholars who had studied in Paris, Louis Ko (Gao Leisi, 1732–1790) and Étienne Yang (Yang Dewang, 1733–98), on the occasion of their return to China. Written in 1766, it appeared in 1769–1770 in Dupont's journal, the ''Ephémérides du citoyen'', and was published separately in 1776. Dupont, however, made various alterations in the text, in order to bring it more into accordance with Quesnay's doctrines, which led to a coolness between him and Turgot.

In the ''Réflexions'', after tracing the origin of commerce, Turgot develops Quesnay's theory that land is the only source of wealth, and divides society into three classes, the productive or agricultural, the salaried (the ''classe stipendiée'') or artisan class, and the land-owning class (''classe disponible''). He also proposes a notable theory of the interest rate. After discussing the evolution of the different systems of cultivation, the nature of exchange and barter, money, and the functions of capital, he sets forth the theory of the ''impôt unique'', i.e. that only the net product (''produit net'') of the land should be taxed. In addition he demanded the complete freedom of commerce and industry.

As minister, 1774–1776

Appointment

Turgot was summoned to the ministry of Louis XVI two months after his accession, and was appointed a month later as Controller-General of Finance. The king even defended the middle-class economist against the reaction of the aristocracy. Turgot owed his appointment as minister of the navy in July 1774 to Maurepas, the "Mentor" of Louis XVI, to whom he was warmly recommended by the abbé Very, a mutual friend. His appointment met with general approval, and was hailed with enthusiasm by the ''philosophes''. A month later (24 August) he was appointed Controller-General of Finances.

On government spending

His first act was to submit to the king a statement of his guiding principles: "No bankruptcy, no increase of taxation, no borrowing." Turgot's policy, in face of the desperate financial position, was to enforce the most rigid economy in all departments. All departmental expenses were to be submitted for the approval of the controller-general, a number of sinecures were suppressed, the holders of them being compensated, and the abuse of the ''acquits au comptant'' was attacked, while Turgot appealed personally to the king against the lavish giving of places and pensions. He also contemplated a thorough-going reform of the ''Ferme Générale'', but contented himself, as a beginning, with imposing certain conditions on the leases as they were renewed – such as a more efficient personnel, and the abolition for the future of the abuse of the ''croupes'' (the name given to a class of pensions), a reform which Terray had shirked on finding how many persons in high places were interested in them, and annulling certain leases, such as those of the manufacture of gunpowder and the administration of the royal mails, the former of which was handed over to a company with the scientist Lavoisier