Anders Chydenius

Anders Chydenius (26 February 1729 – 1 February 1803) was a Swedish-Finnish priest and member of the Riksdag of the Estates (Sweden's parliament). He was one of the founding fathers of liberalism, making the case for the free market in his pamphlet The National Gain (1765) and was the originator of the first Swedish law guaranteeing freedom of the press (1766). He also introduced the principle of freedom of information to Swedish government.

Anders Chydenius in 1770

Quotes

• Our wants are various, and nobody has been found able to acquire even the necessaries without the aid of other people, and there is scarcely any Nation that has not stood in need of others. The Almighty himself has made our race such that we should help one another. Should this mutual aid be checked within or without the Nation, it is contrary to Nature.
  • The National Gain, §2, 1765.

• ...that every individual spontaneously tries to find the place and the trade in which he can best increase National gain, if laws do not prevent him from doing so.
  • The National Gain, §5, 1765. Here Chydenius could be said to describe the invisible hand eleven years before Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations.

• The more opportunities there are in a Society for some persons to live upon the toil of others, and the less those others may enjoy the fruits of their work themselves, the more is diligence killed, the former become insolent, the latter despairing, and both negligent.
  • The National Gain, §20, 1765.

• ...Fatherland without freedom and merit is a large word with little meaning.
  • For What Reason do so Many Swedes Emigrate Every Year?, 1765.

• The exercise of one coercion always makes another inevitable.
  • Thoughts on the Natural Rights of Servants and Peasants, 1778.

Sources

• Chydenius, Anders, The National Gain. London: Ernest Benn Limited 1931. Editor Georg Schaumann, translator unknown. (Original title: Den Nationnale Winsten Wördsammast öfwerlämnad til Riksens Höglofliga Ständer, Af En Deras Ledamot. Stockholm 1765). Text in the public domain, available (in English) at The Chydenius Foundation.

External links

• The Chydenius Foundation - in English (also in Finnish and Swedish)