The Economics of David Ricardo

Abstract

As even his detractors acknowledge, David Ricardo (b. London, 18 April 1772 – d. Gatcombe Park, 11 September 1823) possessed one of the sharpest minds that has ever been applied to economic theory. Given the very short period of time (barely fourteen years) that Ricardo devoted to economic theorising, before his sudden death, his contributions are wide-ranging and ground-breaking and have often given rise to heated controversies that persist today. Section 1 identifies the distinctive feature of Ricardian economics as the art of thinking in terms of models. Ricardo had a particular gift for developing simplified models that could be used by policymakers in solving the most pressing problems of his time. Sections 2 and 3 outline the main biographical events of Ricardo’s family and the circumstances that prompted Ricardo to turn to the study of economic theory. Section 4 gives a bird’s-eye view of Ricardo’s main theoretical contributions, ranging from value theory to international trade theory and fiscal theory. Section 5 focuses on the core of Ricardo’s economics, namely the theory of growth and income distribution with particular emphasis on rent theory. Section 6 concludes the entry.