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The Law Of The Corn Laws

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Another way in which a comparison of the two thinkers can be given with respect to the Corn Laws is through their positioning on the issue of Say’s Law. To introduce this concept, Jean-Baptiste Say developed the Law of Markets, which is commonly referred to as Say’s Law, in his A Treatise on Political Economy. He maintains that in order to consume, one must provide supplies for another’s demand in order to earn a unit of account to consume goods, meaning a consumer must also be a producer (Say, I.XV.133). Therefore, the economy is a constant cycle of production, proving that supply creates its own demand. Because of this implication, Say’s Law can be viewed in relation to the Corn Laws as the law implies both that an economy will equilibrate without a need for government intervention and that free trade is non-distortionary. Knowing this, it becomes evident that the law was supported by Ricardo, albeit implicitly, and explicitly rejected by Malthus. This section will therefore more indepthly move through the two thinker’s opinions on the law to prove their stance on the greater issue of the Corn Laws.
Malthus disagrees with Say’s Law, as it oversimplifies the nuance of the economy through its failure to account for the insufficiency of demand coupled with overproduction. The main argument about the insufficiency of demand is brought about by the expenditure of the different social classes. The insufficiency of demand he notes makes up his glut theory. For Malthus,

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