Claude-Frédéric Bastiat (/ˌbɑːstiˈɑː/; French: [klod fʁedeʁik bastja]; 30 June 1801 – 24 December 1850) was a French economist, writer and a prominent member of the French Liberal School.[1]
A Freemason and a member of the French National Assembly, Bastiat developed the economic concept of opportunity cost and introduced the parable of the broken window.[2]
As an advocate of classical economics and the economics of Adam Smith, his views favored a free market and influenced the Austrian School.[3]
