Frédéric Bastiat

Claude-Frédéric Bastiat (/bɑːstiˈɑː/; French: [klod fʁedeʁik bastja]; 30 June 1801 – 24 December 1850) was a French economist, writer and a prominent member of the French Liberal School.

Frédéric Bastiat
Member of the French National Assembly
In office
1848  24 December 1850
Personal details
Born
Claude-Frédéric Bastiat

(1801-06-30)30 June 1801
Bayonne, France
Died24 December 1850(1850-12-24) (aged 49)
Rome, Papal States
Academic career
School or
tradition
French Liberal School
InfluencesCobden, Dunoyer, Say, Hume, Gibbon, Voltaire, Rousseau, Smith, Turgot
ContributionsLegal plunder
Parable of the broken window
The Law

A member of the French National Assembly, Bastiat developed the economic concept of opportunity cost and introduced the parable of the broken window. He was described as "the most brilliant economic journalist who ever lived" by economic theorist Joseph Schumpeter.

As an advocate of classical economics and the economics of Adam Smith, his views favored a free market and influenced the Austrian School. He is best known for his book The Law, where he argued that law must protect rights such as private property, not "plunder" others' property.

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