Who will attempt to calculate the value conferred on mankind by the unknown inventor of the plough?
Source:
Say, Jean-Baptiste. A Treatise on Political Economy. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1855; translator C. R. Prinsep, ed. Clement C. Biddle. Fourth-fifth edition.
First published: 1803, in French.
The quotation is from BOOK I, CHAPTER VI “Of Operations Alike Common To All Branches of Industry.”
Full text is posted at: http://www.econlib.org/library/Say/sayT.html
(Note: Say is one of the earliest economists to recognize the importance of entrepreneurs. Today he is best known for his Say’s Law. He lived from 1767-1832.)