Essay on the Nature of Trade in General

Written around 1730 and published posthumously in 1755 as Essai sur la nature du commerce en général, Cantillon’s essay is the first systematic treatment of an economy as a circular flow: prices and intrinsic value, the role of the entrepreneur who buys at certain cost to sell at uncertain price, the effect of new money entering at particular points rather than uniformly (later named the Cantillon effect), and the relation between city and countryside.

McCord adds his own note to this entry: “Gene Epstein, former economics editor at Barron’s and a staunch Austrian, always insists that modern economics starts with this book rather than Adam Smith. A key strength of Cantillon’s is that he provides the first analysis of entrepreneurship.”

Why it’s on the list: It opens the Political Economy part’s Foundations sub-section, and the curator’s annotation says why: on this reading the discipline starts here rather than with Smith, and the reason is that Cantillon is the first to put the entrepreneur at the centre.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Foundations of Modern Economics. Shared on X on March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription, with the four parts and sixteen sub-sections, is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
• Economics — the discipline this essay is a candidate origin point for.
• Capitalism — the circular-flow account of a commercial economy.
• Incentives — the entrepreneur bearing uncertainty for a residual is Cantillon’s contribution.