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Steve, 
 
Nope.  Wrong quote. 
 
Made me go to the library and dig up the Sixth American Edition,  
translated by C.R. Prinsep from the Fourth French Edition,  
published in 1849 by Grigg, Elliott & Co., Philadelphia, best I can  
do.   
 
On pp. 118-119 I find Chapter XII, "Of Unproductive Capital"  I quote  
from the beginning.   
 
"We have seen above that values once produced may be devoted  
either to the satisfaction of wants of those who have acquired them,  
or to a further act of production.  They may also be withdrawn both  
from unproductive consumption and from reproductive employment,  
and remain buried or concealed.   
 
"The owner of values, in so disposing of them, not only deprives  
himself of the self-gratification he might have derived from their  
consumption, but also of the advantage he might draw from the  
productive agency of the value hoarded.  He furthermore withholds  
from industry the profits it might make by the employment of that  
value."   
 
In the next very long paragraph he discusses examples of this  
including "the countries subjected to the Ottoman dominion" where  
"the vast quantity of capital remaining in a state of inactivity."   He  
identifies the arbitrary power of the government as the source of   
the fear of "people of every rank from the peasant to the pacha, to  
withdraw a part of their property from the greedy eyes of power: and  
value can never be invisible, without being inactive."  He further  
discusses "during the violence of political convulsions, there is  
always a sensible contraction of capital, a stagnation of industry, a  
disappearance of profit, and a general depression while the alarm  
continues..."  He then talks about "The saints and madonnas of  
superstitious nations, the splendid pageantry and richly decorated  
idols of Asiatic worship, gave life to no agricultural or manufacturing  
enterprise."  more and more and "There is a great deal of inert  
capital in countries, where the national habits lead to the extended  
use of the precious metals in furniture, clothes, and decorations."   
etc. etc.   
 
Obviously there are several arguments here, including the one  
about temporary uncertainties that you mentioned.  Also, the focus  
on the hoarding of precious metals recalls Keynes' arguments  
regarding India and its "liquidity preference" which he argued took  
such a form.  But the Ottoman example is no temporary  
uncertainty and clearly can last a long time in Say's view.  This is  
no mere temporary deviation from "Say's Law."   
 
I rest my case. 
 
Barkley Rosser 
James Madison University 
 
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