# The Highly Visible Hand: Richard Cantillon

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/portraits-of-liberty/the-highly-visible-hand-richard-cantillon>

**By** Paul Meany

**Published:** May 19, 2022

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Despite his obscurity today, the French Irish economist Richard Cantillon was the first person to put forward a theory of the entrepreneur in the market economy.

## SUMMARY:

Born sometime around 1680 in Kerry, Ireland, Richard Cantillon went on to revolutionize the discipline of economics. Cantillon, a talented accountant and shrewd businessman, combined practical insights from his career and abstract theorizing in his seminal work, Essay on the Nature of Trade in General. The physiocrats studied his writings, and he was one of the rare figures Adam Smith cited by name.

### MUSIC ATTRIBUTIONS:

Easy Lemon by Kevin MacLeod  
Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3697-easy-lemon](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3697-easy-lemon)  
License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)

Peppers Theme by Kevin MacLeod  
Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4998-peppers-theme](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4998-peppers-theme)  
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Umbrella Pants by Kevin MacLeod  
Link: [https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4559-umbrella-pants](https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4559-umbrella-pants)  
License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)

Angel Share by Kevin MacLeod  
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License: [https://filmmusic.io/standard-license](https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)

Infados by Kevin MacLeod  
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Prelude in C (BWV 846) by Kevin MacLeod  
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Reminiscing by Kevin MacLeod  
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