Tableau économique

The Tableau économique (French pronunciation: ​[tablo ekɔnɔmik]) or Economic Table is an economic model first described by French economist François Quesnay in 1758, which laid the foundation of the Physiocratic school of economics.

Quesnay believed that trade and industry were not sources of wealth, and instead in his 1758 manuscript Tableau économique (Economic Table) argued that agricultural surpluses, by flowing through the economy in the form of rent, wages, and purchases were the real economic movers, for two reasons. First, regulation impedes the flow of income throughout all social classes and therefore economic development. Second, taxes on the productive classes such as farmers should be reduced in favor of higher taxes for unproductive classes such as landowners, since their luxurious way of life distorts the income flow.