Louis Say

Louis Auguste Say (9 March 1774 in Lyon – 6 March 1840 in Paris) was a French businessman and economist. He founded large sugar refineries in Nantes and Paris, and the sugar company "Say", known after 1972 as Béghin-Say; as of 2002 it is a subsidiary of Tereos.

Early life and family background Say was born on 6 March 1774 in Lyon, France. His father, Jean-Etienne Say, was a Swiss-born silk trader. His mother was Françoise Brun de Castanet.

In 1832, with Constant Duméril, Say also opened a beetroot sugar factory in Ivry-sur-Seine, known as the "Raffinerie de Jamaïque" (English: "refinery from Jamaica").

Writings on economics Partly in reaction to his brother, Say became an economist at the age of forty-four, after he had become wealthy. Say focused on the relationship between worth and usefulness. Traité élémentaire de la richesse individuelle et de la richesse publique, et éclaircissement sur les principales questions d'économie politique (1827). Étude sur la richesse des nations et réfutation des principales erreurs en économie politique (1836).