Richard Cantillon (1680 – May, 1734) was an important figure in the Physiocrat school of economics, initially a successful financier who made his fortune through speculation. He then turned to theoretical studies of economics, his only work being published posthumously, after he was murdered. Cantillon's Essai contains pioneering analyses of wages, prices, currency circulation, the role of entrepreneurs in the economy, and many other economic concepts. Several of his ideas were adopted, and adapted, not only by his own Physiocrat school, but also by Adam Smith and the classical school as well as influencing the members of the Austrian school.
The re-issuing of Cantillon's work at the beginning of the twenty-first century has brought the ideas of this brilliant thinker into the public arena in their original form, with his original vision and insights, many of which were obscured by later theorists, but which offer the possibility of deeper understanding of a stable economic foundation that can support all members of society.