Note 724 — Chapter I · : THE OPTIMISTS

This truth is so obvious that Rodbertus, as we shall see by and by, took the opposite point of view and attempted to argue on the strength of the “iron law” that capital’s share is always increasing, while labour’s is decreasing. This thesis seems to have no better foundation than the other. See an article by Rist entitled Deux Sophismes économiques, in the Revue d’Économie politique for March 1905.

Bastiat’s thesis may also be seen in Carey. The Liberal school has clearly adopted it. See Paul Leroy-Beaulieu’s Répartition der Richesses.