Profile Major Works Resources

Horace Émile Say, 1794-1860.

French businessman, liberal activist and statesman, the eldest son of Jean-Baptiste Say.  

Horace Émile Say was born in Paris, and studied in Geneva, before entering his father's sugar-processing business. As an agent for the family company, Horace left France in 1813, and after visiting the United States, lived in Brazil for several years.  Returning to Paris, Horace Say founded a trading company to South America in 1818. 

Horace Say was primarily a businessmen, whose time (esp. later in life) was mostly involved in various civic duties, becoming president of the chamber of commerce in 1834.  Horace Émile Say's own economic skills were primarily empirically-oriented.  Besides his historical treatise on French-Brazilian commerce, Horace produced a series of studies on Paris city administration, finances and, between 1848 and 1851, oversaw a herculean effort to collect statistical data on industry in the Paris region.   In several ways, at least methodologically, Horace Say be seen as as a French Historicist. 

But Horace Say was also a dutiful son, and an important sponsor and member of the  French Liberal School.  Horace Say helped found the Parisian publishing house of Guillaumin in 1840, the Journal des économistes in 1841 and the Société d'Économie Politique in 1842.  He edited and put out new editions of his father's works through the 1840s, and contributed numerous articles to Guillaumin's 1852 Dictionnaire de l'économie politique.

Horace Émile Say was the father of Léon Say and Louis-August Say.

 

  

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Major Works of Horace Émile Say

  • Avant-propos à la discussion d'une nouvelle loi sur les faillites, 1837 [bnf]
  • Histoire des relations commerciales entre la France et le Bresil, 1839 [bk].
  • Etudes sur l'administration de la ville de Paris et du departement de la Seine, 1846.[bk]
  • Paris, son octroi et ses emprunts, 1847 [bk, bnf]
  • Statistique de l'industrie à Paris, résultant de l'enquête faite par la Chambre de commerce pour les années 1847-1848 , 1851 [bnf]
  • "Division du Travail" in C. Coquelin and G.U. Guillaumin, editors, 1852, Dictionnaire de l'économie politique [1894 ed., p.567]

 
HET

 
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Resources on Horace Émile Say

  • "Mort et obséques de M. Horace Émile Say", 1860, Journal des économistes, p.293
  • "Say, Horace"  in L Say and J. Chailley-Bert, editors, 1892, Nouveau Dictionnaire de l'économie politique
  • "Say, Horace"  in R.H. Inglis Palgrave, editor, 1894-1901 Dictionary of Political Economy [1901 ed.]
  • "Say, Horace", in J. Conrad et al, (1891-94) Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften [2nd ed, 1898-1901]
  • Horace Say entry at LibertyFund
  • Wikipedia

 

 
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