Charles Dunoyer Barthélemy-Charles-Pierre-Joseph Dunoyer de Segonzac (20 May 1786 – 4 December 1862), better known as Charles Dunoyer (), was a French economist of the French Liberal School. Dunoyer gave one of the earliest theories of

economic cycle Business cycles are intervals of general Economic expansion, expansion followed by recession in economic performance. The changes in economic activity that characterize business cycles have important implications for the welfare of the general po ...

, building on the theory of periodic crises of

Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, also known as Jean Charles Leonard Simonde de Sismondi (; 9 May 1773 – 25 June 1842), whose real surname was Simonde, was a Swiss historian and political economist, who is best known for his works on French ...

and introducing the notion of the economy periodically cycling between two phases.

Biography

Dunoyer was born in Carennac,

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

(now in Lot). In 1814, he had founded together with Charles Comte the journal '' Le Censeur'', a platform for liberal ideas. Dunoyer would also publish a variety of books on political economy, among them ''De la Liberté du travail'' (''On the Freedom of Labour'', 1845). Dunoyer was an early member of the

Société d'économie politique The Société d’Economie Politique () is a French learned society concerned with political economy. It was founded in 1842 to provide a forum for discussion of free trade, a subject of violent debate at the time, and has continued to organize dis ...

organized in 1842 by

Pellegrino Rossi Pellegrino Luigi Odoardo Rossi (13 July 1787 – 15 November 1848) was an Italian economist, politician and jurist. He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the minister of justice in the government of the Papal States, unde ...

. He was a member of the

Académie des Sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

. He was also a member of the

Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...

of the Second Republic. While many know of the less than amiable relationship between

Auguste Comte Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (; ; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the ...

and Saint-Simon, there is much less knowledge of the more amiable twenty-five-year-long relationship between Auguste Comte and Charles Dunoyer. The latter relationship is discussed most fully by Leonard Liggio in "Charles Dunoyer and French Classical Liberalism".

's intellectual biographer Mary Pickering also cites a review of Liggio's article when she too mentions this relationship. Dunoyer is also mentioned in the opening sentences of the entry on

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

by the Comtist John Kells Ingram in both the ninth, or scholar's edition, of the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' and the later eleventh edition as well. Although he is one of the over 550 worthies cited in Auguste Comte's ''Calendar of Great Men'' (1849), Dunoyer is primarily cited as a substitute for

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

. Dunoyer died on 4 December 1862 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Bibliography

*
L’Industrie et la morale considérées dans leurs rapports avec la liberté
', 1825 *
Nouveau traité d'économie sociale, ou Simple exposition des causes sous l'influence desquelles les hommes parviennent à user de leurs forces avec le plus de liberté, c'est-à-dire avec le plus de facilité et de puissance, Tome 1
', 1830 *
Nouveau traité d'économie sociale, ou Simple exposition des causes sous l'influence desquelles les hommes parviennent à user de leurs forces avec le plus de liberté, c'est-à-dire avec le plus de facilité et de puissance, Tome 2
', 1830 *
De la Liberté d’enseignement
', 1844 *
De la Liberté du travail, ou Simple exposé des conditions dans lesquelles les forces humaines s’exercent avec le plus de puissance
', 1845 *
La Révolution du 24 Février
', 1848 * ''Rapport fait au nom de la section de morale sur le concours concernant les rapports de la morale et de l'économie politique'', 1860

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunoyer, Charles 19th-century French economists French tax resisters French classical liberal economists Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques 1786 births 1862 deaths

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links