Economics

François Quesnay: Economist

François Quesnay: Economist

François Quesnay, Economist was born on June 4, 1694 in Méré near Versailles. In 1744 he graduated as a doctor of medicine; he became physician in ordinary to the king, and afterwards his first consulting physician, and was installed in the Palace of Versailles. He was an intellectual leader of the physiocrats, the first systematic school of political economy. Late in life Quesnay developed an interest in economics, publishing his first book on the subject in his 60s. With the support of Madame de Pompadour, he and fellow physiocrat Jean de Gournay became influential in the Secte des Économistes, whose members looked to Quesnay as their leader. In 1758 he published the Tableau économique (Economic Table), which provided the foundations of the ideas of the Physiocrats.