Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2021
François Quesnay’s Tableau, as it appears in Philosophie rurale, is an understandable, robust, and innovative construction despite detail errors. It provides a precise representation of the economic circuit. We introduce the accounts of chapter VII of Philosophie rurale and we explain how Quesnay’s Tableau comes from these accounts. The transposition of the accounts of chapter VII and of the Tableau into two input-output tables shows the balance of resources and uses. In order to shed light on the progress of exchanges along the year, the Tableau is also transposed into three double-entry accountings (proprietors, farmers, and artisans).
Romuald Dupuy: Université de Poitiers; Pierre Le Masne: Université de Poitiers; Philippe Roman: ICHEC Brussels. The authors thank Gabriel Sabbagh (University Paris-Diderot), Séverine Sudron, and Jean-Pierre Tisseur (University of Poitiers), and Françoise Le Masne. The content of the article remains the sole responsibility of the authors.