CHARLES RICHARD DE BUTRE: PIONEER OF MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS

Historians of economics have acknowledged the significant role Francois Quesnay and the Physiocrats played in the early development of mathematical economics. It is, however, important to note that although the Tableau economique could well be translated into algebra, Quesnay never did it. As part of our research on Charles Richard de Butre, an obscure collaborator of Francois Quesnay, we have uncovered documents that show that he was one Physiocrat who did use algebra to explain his theoretical conceptions. In two texts written at the end of 1766 and the beginning of 1767, Butre systematically used algebra as an aid for economic reasoning. Our argument is that these texts provide very interesting insights into the development of early mathematical economics.