Analysing the economy
The kinds of questions Quesnay asked, and the way he went about answering them, anticipated modern economics. He was one of the first to attempt laws that govern economies, which he did by breaking economies down into their constituent parts and then rigorously analysing the relationships between the parts. His model included in puts, outputs, and the interdependencies of different sectors. Quesnay suggested that these might exist in a state of equilibrium, idea that was later developed by Leon Walras, becoming one of the foundations of economic theorizing.