Harmonies of Political Economy

By Frederic Bastiat

Published in 1860

Reference #0416

This edition of “Harmonies of Political Economy” was published in 1860 in London by John Murray and the work was first published in French in 1850. Only the first volume (the first ten chapters) was published during Bastiat’s lifetime. The second volume was left unfinished; however, his notes and sketches were added to the posthumous edition of his complete works.

In this piece, Bastiat develops and determines that society’s interests are harmonious and in equilibrium if their rights are respected and if the free market operates independently of government intervention. In other words, the free market does not operate against the interests of the population, but with its ideals.

Groups whose principles do not reconcile with the interests of all other groups cause disharmony and imbalance, turning it away from the very thing it is supposed to defend. His influence from this piece is seen in the work of Gustave de Molinari, Arthur Latham Perry and Ludwig von Mises.