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Physiocracy (from the Greek for "Government of Nature") is an economic theory developed by a group of 18th century Enlightenment French economists who believed that the wealth of nations was derived solely from the value of "land agriculture" or "land development" and that agricultural products should be highly priced. Their theories originated in France and were most popular during the second half of the 18th century. Physiocracy is perhaps the first well-developed theory of economics. The movement was particularly dominated by François Quesnay (1694–1774) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (1727–1781).〔Steiner (2003) p. 62〕 It immediately preceded the first modern school, classical economics, which began with the publication of Adam Smith's ''The Wealth of Nations'' in 1776. The most significant contribution of the Physiocrats was their emphasis on productive work as the source of national wealth. This is in contrast to earlier schools, in particular mercantilism, which often focused on the ruler's wealth, accumulation of gold, or the balance of trade. Whereas, the Mercantilist school of economics said that value in the products of society was created at the point of sale,〔Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Theories of Surplus Labor" from the Economic Manuscripts of 1861-1863 contained in the ''Collected works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engles: Volume 30'' (New York: International Publishers, 1988) p. 348.〕 by the seller exchanging his products for more money than the products had "previously" been worth, the Physiocratic school of economics was the first to see labor as the sole source of value. However, for the Physiocrats, only agricultural labor created this value in the products of society.〔Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Theories of Surplus Value" from the Economic Manuscripts of 1861-1863" contained in ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 30'' (New York: International Publishers, 1988) p. 355.〕 All "industrial" and non-agricultural labor was "unproductive appendages" to agricultural labor.〔Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Theories of Surplus Value" contained in ''Collected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 30'', p. 358.〕 At the time the Physiocrats were formulating their ideas, economies were almost entirely agrarian. That is presumably why the theory considered only agricultural labor to be valuable. Physiocrats viewed the production of goods and services as consumption of the agricultural surplus, since the main source of power was from human or animal muscle and all energy was derived from the surplus from agricultural production. Profit in capitalist production was really only the "rent" obtained by the owner of the land on which the agricultural production is taking place.〔Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Theories of Surplus Value" contained in ''Collected Works Karl Marx and Frederick Engels: Volume 30'', p. 355.〕 Historian David B. Danbom explains, "The Physiocrats damned cities for their artificiality and praised more natural styles of living. They celebrated farmers."〔''Why Americans Value Rural Life'' by David B. Danbom〕 They called themselves '' Les Économistes'', but are generally referred to as Physiocrats to distinguish them from the many schools of economic thought that followed them.〔'The Penguin Dictionary of Economics' George Bannock, R. E. Baxter and Evan Davis. 5th Edition. Penguin Books 1992 p329.〕 ==Precursors== Physiocracy is an agrarianist philosophy. In the late Roman Republic, the dominant senatorial class was not allowed to engage in banking or commerce〔Byrd, 34〕 but relied on their ''latifundia'', large plantations, for income. They circumvented this rule through freedmen proxies who sold surplus agricultural goods. Another inspiration came from China's economic system, then the largest in the world. Chinese society broadly distinguished four occupations, with scholar-bureaucrats (who were also agrarian landlords) at the top and merchants at the bottom (because they did not produce but only distributed goods made by others). Leading physiocrats like François Quesnay were avid Confucianists who advocated China's agrarian policies.〔 Derk Bodde, (CHINESE IDEAS IN THE WEST )〕 Some scholars have advocated connections with the school of Agriculturalism, which promoted utopian communalism.〔Maverick, Lewis A. (1938). "Chinese Influences Upon the Physiocrats". Economic History 3.〕 One of the integral part of physiocracy, laissez faire, was adopted from Quesnay's writings on China, being a translation of the Chinese term wu wei. The concept natural order of physiocracy originated from "Way of Nature" of Chinese Confucianism.〔Derk Bodde, (CHINESE IDEAS IN THE WEST ), p.6〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Physiocracy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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