From the theory of value to the debate about débouchés: a comparison between Say and Malthus

Between J.-B. Say and R. Malthus an important debate took place, witnessed by a number of letters and quotations, mainly concerning the débouchés problem. Quite surprisingly, the respective theories of values are never under discussion in their correspondence, nor quotations on them can be easily found in their works. In this paper we discuss how Say’s and Malthus’s theories, which are so close as long as the value’s theme is concerned, could lead to utterly opposite conclusions about the problem of débouchés. The roots of the remarkable difference between them is to be traced: first, in their respective vision of composition and evolution of demand stemming from the different social classes and, secondly, in a less explicit analytical divergency about the role played by demand in determining profits. Thus the contrast in the social vision of Say and Malthus, coupled with the difference in their analytical approach, can explain the puzzle of two authors whose theories of value were quite similar and expectations about the future landscape of capitalism were divergent.