Jean de Sismondi

Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de Sismondi , historian, publicity agent and economist, born with Geneva the May 9th 1773, died in Geneva the June 25th 1842.

Initially influenced by Adam Smith, he embraces the liberal cause and attends the living rooms of Madam de Staël, in Coppet (VD, Switzerland). In 1801, it publishes a " statistics of the department of Léman" who makes a statement on a worrying situation of the Genevese economy. Attached to freedoms, he sharply criticizes the constitution project of the Republic of Geneva, subjected to the population in 1816, publishes a booklet and makes sign " the petition of the 16". Under middle-class pressures, it ceases its criticisms. Its adhesion with the economic liberalism of Ricardo and Smith ends in 1819 with the publication of the " New principles of economy politique". For the first time, an economist evokes a necessary redistribution of the richnesses. According to him, far from ensuring the wellbeing of all, the economic liberalism increases the misery of the workers. Obstacles:

the competition which exerts a pressure with the fall on the production costs and thus on the wages.
the high rate/rhythm of technological advance with the result that the old ones resist by selling off the prices and thus the wages.

There is a contradiction: mechanization involves unemployment and allows a mass production which the workers cannot buy, which involves an overproduction.

Vis-a-vis this situation, Sismondi formulated a programme of intervention of the State, having for goal protection of the working class, to fight against excesses of competition and to regularize progress in order to avoid unemployment:

Guaranteed professional where the owner undertakes the sick workman or with unemployment.
Proposes the end of dissociation work/property, that is to say the return to the craft industry and the small farm.

Its positions were partly criticized by Karl Marx, which regarded it as the chief of the " small-bourgeois" socialism; , and Lénine, of " Socialist romantique".

Sismondi, of middle-class origin, always had large respect of the institutions which he however never hesitated to criticize severely. In particular, it adhered to the policy of the gradual Progress of the First Syndic Jean-Jacques Rigaud, installation as of the middle of the years 1820. Convinced that the Constitution of 1816 was to evolve/move, it held a delicate position, asking Reforms, but being opposed to any violent revolution. When in 1841 Constituent is obtained by pressure of crowd, Sismondi is opposed to it. Nevertheless, it decided to stand as a candidate there, was elected, and militated, in its center, for reforms minima, causing the incomprehension of the radicals, taken along by James Fazy. Patient, tired, it holds a last memorable speech, before being accompanied back at his place. He died a few days later, before the end of constituent work.

He also gave his name to a Genevese college, the Collège Sismondi.

Although declaring disciple of Adam Smith, he was opposed to the Loi of Say (rather than to deny the possibility of the overproduction, he explains it by three factors: underconsumption, competition, and the uncertainty of the forecast of outlets), and preached the intervention of the State. He is thus not regarded as " classique" , but generally qualified utopian socialist , of precursor of Schumpeter for its work on technological advance, and, according to the authors, of social democrat.

Ideas

Poverty

For Sismondi, poverty does not come from demography or the assistance, indeed for him poverty comes from the unequal distribution of the capacity of negotiation between workmen and owners. The workman to be able to be productive needs a machine and does not have the means of buying one of them, one can then speak about work-employee. To survive the workman needs work whereas the owner has a larger room for maneuver because it can wait and only seeks to increase its profits and not to survive. This is why the workman could not be paid with his right value, it will produce more than the value of his wages.

Mechanization

According to the thesis of Sismondi, the introduction of new machines benefits only employers. Indeed, the profits grow bigger whereas the wages remain the same ones. He considers that this increase in production capacities will lead to bankruptcies because consumption cannot follow the surplus of production since the workmen are not paid with their right value. Competition encourages the companies to invest unceasingly what causes bankruptcies in chain.

Social garantism

Sismondi considers that the unequal division of the richnesses is doubly harmful because it is unjust and that causes crises of overproduction. He then thinks of curing it by reducing the working time, by prohibiting the work of the children, then the wages will be able to increase. He would also like that the company deals with the periods of disease and old age.

Sismondi historian

Sismondi is also known for its work on the Histoire of Italy. August 1st

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