The common narrative about Jean-Baptiste Say’s treatment of money holdings is that he denied the possibility of hoarding. I show that this interpretation of Say’s thinking is erroneous. Drawing upon the various editions of Traite and Cours and other lesser-known texts, I provide substantial evidence to refute the widespread but mistaken view that, for Say, money was only a medium of exchange. In reality, not only did Say analyze long-term and short-term hoarding, but more generally, Say did envisage that money could serve as a store of value. In particular, three motives could lead individuals to keep idle balances in times of uncertainty: a precautionary motive, the lack of good investment opportunities, and the lack of information. For Say, the demand for money for precautionary motive rose during depressions, indicating that hoarding was a symptom rather than a cause of disturbance. Hoarding was an integral part of Say’s economic system that did not invalidate his law of outlets.

中文翻译：

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货币作为价值储存手段

关于让-巴蒂斯特·萨伊（Jean-Baptiste Say）对持有货币的处理的普遍说法是，他否认囤积的可能性。我表明对萨伊思想的这种解释是错误的。借鉴 Traite 和 Cours 的各种版本以及其他鲜为人知的文本，我提供了大量证据来驳斥广泛但错误的观点，即对萨伊来说，货币只是一种交换媒介。实际上，萨伊不仅分析了长期和短期的囤积行为，而且更笼统地说，萨伊确实设想了货币可以作为一种价值储存手段。特别是，三个动机可能会导致个人在不确定时期保持闲置平衡：预防动机、缺乏良好的投资机会和缺乏信息。对于萨伊来说，在萧条期间，出于预防动机的货币需求上升，表明囤积是一种症状，而不是干扰的原因。囤积是萨伊经济体系的一个组成部分，并没有使他的出路法无效。