Constant believed that private property was not a natural right but merely a social convention and therefore under the jurisdiction of society. Say recognized explicitly that governments had the right to regulate any type of industry and believed that regulation was useful and proper in many circumstances. It was entirely appropriate, for example, for governments to intervene to help workers made redundant by introduction of machinery in industry. Governments could legitimately restrict the use of new machines and find work for the unemployed. “Without a doubt,” Say wrote, a government “must
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