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Frédéric Bastiat: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Frédéric Bastiat, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Breaking a window doesn't boost the economy, even though a repairman gets paid

  Frédéric Bastiat imagined a shopkeeper's window smashed by a careless boy. Onlookers say it's good for the economy — the repairman earns money he'll spend elsewhere. But that money…

  — Frédéric Bastiat, Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas (That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen)

• A satirical 1845 petition asked France to block out the sun

  Economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote a mock petition from candlemakers begging the French government to ban windows, skylights and every other source of natural light, to protect their…

  — Frédéric Bastiat, Economic Sophisms

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