I have said that when, unfortunately, we took the point of view of the producers’ interest, we could not fail to clash with the general interest, since producers, as such, demand only effort, needs, and obstacles.

Frédéric Bastiat
Economic Sophisms First Series

Bastiat revisits here the main idea at the source of what is called the consumers’ society, namely that the consumer needs to be placed at the heart of economic analysis because economic activity has a unique purpose, which is to fulfil the needs of the consumers.

By reading this short pamphlet, it is hard to believe that anybody would dare to advance some arguments of the advocates for protection and one has to wonder if the absurdity of the suggestions is reflecting cynical impudence or sheer stupidity.

What was the result of all this eventually? Is there a reader of this blog who could leave a comment and let us know if the train from Bayonne to Bordeaux was going to a different train station than the one coming from Paris to Bordeaux?