Louis Auguste Say
{{Short description|French economist (1774–1840)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Louis Auguste Say
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| birth_date = 9 March 1774
| birth_place = Lyon, France
| death_date = {{dda|1840|5|6|1774|3|9|df=y}}
| death_place = Paris, France
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| occupation = Businessman, economist
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| spouse = Constance Maressal
| children = Gustave Say
Achille Say
Constant Say
Louis Octave Say
| parents = Jean Étienne Say
Françoise Brun de Castanet
| relatives = Jean-Baptiste Say (brother)
Horace Say (nephew)
François de Cossé Brissac, 11th Duke of Brissac (grandson)
Princess Marie Say (granddaughter)
Léon Say (grandnephew)
}}
Louis Auguste Say (9 March 1774 in Lyon – 6 March 1840 in Paris) was a French businessman and economist. He founded large sugar refineries in Nantes and Paris, and the sugar company "Say", known after 1972 as Béghin-Say; as of 2002 it is a subsidiary of Tereos.
Early life and family background
Say was born on 6 March 1774 in Lyon, France.Penouil, Marc. [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/reco_0035-2764_1967_num_18_1_407750 "Economistes de jadis: Louise Say"], Revue économique, 1967, vol. 18, issue 1, pp. 98-122Célimène, Fred and Legris, André. [https://books.google.com/books?id=n2QkA7LOJC8C&dq=%22Louis+Say%22+sucre&pg=PA57 De l'économie coloniale à l'économie mondialisée - Aspects multiples de la transition (XXe et XXIe siècles)], Editions Publibook, 2011, p. 57[http://correspondancefamiliale.ehess.fr/index.php?2348 Say, Jean-Baptiste (1767-1832), son frère Louis, et leurs familles], EHESS His father, Jean-Etienne Say, was a Swiss-born silk trader.Schoorl, Evert. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XS2x66XO4eoC&dq=%22Louis+Say%22&pg=PA3 Jean-Baptiste Say: Revolutionary, Entrepreneur, Economist], New York: Routledge, 2012, p. 3 His mother was Françoise Brun de Castanet. He had a brother, Jean-Baptiste Say, who later became a classical liberal economist.
His paternal family were Protestants from Nîmes who were exiled in Geneva, Switzerland after the repeal of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. His paternal great-grandfather, also named Louis Say, moved first to Amsterdam, where he was a member of the Walloon Church, before settling in Geneva in 1694. His paternal grandfather, Jean Say, became a Swiss citizen.
Business career
Say began his career as a broker in Paris. He then moved to Abbeville, where he worked in the calico-whitening industry.
In 1813, Say asked Jules Paul Benjamin Delessert to recommend his cousin, Armand Delessert, who was the owner of a beetroot sugar refinery in Nantes. Shortly after, Say moved to Nantes and took over the refinery. After the government changed the law on tariffs in 1814, Say switched to using sugarcane in 1815. He later let his son Horace taken over the refinery. The company was known as Louis Say et Cie, later known as Béghin-Say, now a subsidiary of Tereos.Williams, Nicola and Booner, Virginie. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PASIo7gR7Q4C&dq=%22Louis+Say%22+sugar&pg=PA30 The Loire], Lonely Planet, 2002, p. 30
In 1832, with Constant Duméril, Say also opened a beetroot sugar factory in Ivry-sur-Seine, known as the "Raffinerie de Jamaïque" (English: "refinery from Jamaica").Michael Stephen Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zs26hd5keYkC&dq=%22Louis+Say%22+sugar&pg=PA276 The Emergence of Modern Business Enterprise in France, 1800-1930], Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 276
Writings on economics
Partly in reaction to his brother, Say became an economist at the age of forty-four, after he had become wealthy. For historian Marc Penouil, he was an "amateur" in this field.
Say joined the Société Académique de Loire-Inférieure. He also met David Ricardo in England. He wrote four books about political economy between 1818 and 1836. He disagreed with his brother, Jean-Baptiste, about classical liberalism.Bormans, Christophe. [https://books.google.com/books?id=F60c1Dvz0B4C&dq=Louis+Auguste+Say&pg=PA40 L'indispensable de la pensée économique], Levallois-Perret: Studyrama, 2002, p. 40 Say focused on the relationship between worth and usefulness. He drew distinctions between national wealth and individual wealth. Contrary to classical liberals, he was in favour of tariffs as a way to encourage production. However, he was vehemently opposed to taxes.
Personal life and death
Legacy
Say's nephew, Horace Say, became a classical liberal economist. His grandnephew, Léon Say, served as the French Minister of Finance from 1872 to 1873, 1875 to 1877, 1877 to 1879, and again in 1882. His granddaughter, Princess Marie Say married first Henri Amédée de Broglie, and later Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón.
Works
- Les principales causes de la richesse ou de la misère des peuples et des particuliers (1818).
- Considérations sur l'industrie et la législation sous le rapport de leur influence sur la richesse des États et examen critique des principaux ouvrages qui ont paru sur l'économie politique (1822).{{Cite journal |date=1823 |title=Review of Considérations sur l'Industrie et la Législation sous le Rapport de leur Influence sur la Richesse des Etats, et Examen critique des Principaux Ouvrages, qui ont paru sur l'Economie Politique |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25109219 |journal=The North American Review |volume=17 |issue=41 |pages=424–436 |jstor=25109219 |issn=0029-2397}}
- Traité élémentaire de la richesse individuelle et de la richesse publique, et éclaircissement sur les principales questions d'économie politique (1827).
- Étude sur la richesse des nations et réfutation des principales erreurs en économie politique (1836).
References
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Category:Businesspeople from Lyon
Category:People from Abbeville
Category:Businesspeople from Nantes
Category:Businesspeople from Paris
Category:French company founders