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David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists , alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus , Adam Smith and James Mill .
Oct 14, 2024 · David Ricardo (born April 18/19, 1772, London, England—died September 11, 1823, Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire) was an English economist who gave systematized, classical form to the rising science of economics in the 19th century.
- Early Life and Education
- Notable Accomplishments
- Published Works
- The Bottom Line
Born in England in 1772, one of 17 children, David Ricardo began working with his father as a stockbroker at the age of 14. He was disowned by his father at 21, however, for marrying outside his religion. His wealth came from his success with a business he started that dealt with government securities. He retired at the age of 41 after earning an e...
Comparative Advantage Theory
Among the notable ideas that Ricardo introducedwas the theory of comparative advantage, which argued that countries can benefit from international trade by specializing in the production of goods for which they have a relatively lower opportunity cost in production even if they do not have an absolute advantagein the production of any particular good. For example, a mutual trade benefit would be realized between China and the United Kingdom from China specializing in the production of porcela...
Labor Theory of Value
Another of Ricardo's best-known contributions to economics was the labor theory of value. The labor theory of value states that the value of a good could be measured by the labor that it took to produce it. The theory states that the cost should not be based on the compensation paid for the labor, but on the total cost of production. One example of this theory is that if a table takes two hours to make, and a chair takes one hour to make, one table is worth two chairs, regardless of how much...
Theory of Rents
Ricardo was the first economist to discuss the idea of rents, or benefits that accrue to the owners of assets solely due to their ownership rather than their contribution to any actual productive activity. In its original application, agricultural economics, the theory of rents shows that the benefits of a rise in grain prices will tend to accrue to the owners of agricultural lands in the form of rents paid by tenant farmers. Ricardo's idea was later also applied to political economics, in th...
In his Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock(1815), Ricardo conceptualized the law of diminishing returns with respect to labor and capital. Ricardo wrote his first article on economics, published in The Morning Chronicle, at the age of 37. The article advocated for the Bank of England to reduce its note-issuing acti...
David Ricardo was an 18th-century English economist renowned for his contributions to economic theory. He developed the comparative advantage theory, labor theory of value, and the theory of rents, which have founded other schools of thought and form the basis of current economic policies and decisions. Although best known for his work in economics...
David Ricardo, 1772-1823 The brilliant British economist David Ricardo was one the most important figures in the development of economic theory. He articulated and rigorously formulated the " Classical" system of political economy.
David Ricardo, (born, April 18/19, 1772, London, Eng.—died Sept. 11, 1823, Gatcombe Park, Gloucestershire), British economist. The son of a Dutch Jew, he followed his father into the London stock exchange, where he made a fortune before turning to the study of political economy, in which he was influenced by the writings of Adam Smith .
Ricardo’s Parliamentary career was influential but brief: four years later he died suddenly after contracting an ear infection. Bibliography
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Ricardo's theory gradually fell out of favor, and died a slow death soon after the Marginalist Revolution of 1871-74. But research continued in some corners of the world, e.g. Vladimir Dmitriev (1898).
