Subsequent economists, eager to justify interventions in the name of fighting depression, have caricatured "Say's Law" into something that Say never wrote
As someone who teaches the history of economic thought, I am happy whenever the hot news involves the ideas of 19th century French economists. However, I was dismayed that the reaction to Rick Perry's remarks about supply and demand included the casual dismissal of the legacy of J.B. Say. As I'll argue in the present post, I think the elite commentary was unfair to both Say and Perry.