ABSTRACT
Turgot’s theory of capital and interest, although often praised by commentators in the past,2 still lacks a complete interpretation. This can be explained by the fact that Turgot’s analysis of capital and interest, as in the case of so much of his other economics, must be put together from the various papers in which he dealt with the subject. The commentators who have dealt with his theory in some detail3 have based their opinion on the material contained in the ‘Reflections’, and have generally neglected his ‘Mémoire sur les prêts d’argent’ as well as some of his other relevant writings.4 Their treatment is therefore incomplete, and this alone is reason for a new interpretation of Turgot’s theory of capital and interest.
