David Ricardo
David Ricardo
David Ricardowas an English political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and James Mill...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth18 April 1772
beer bread malt
If a tax on malt would raise the price of beer, a tax on bread must raise the price of bread.
might way would-be
If a commodity were in no way useful, - in other words, if it could in no way contribute to our gratification, - it would be destitute of exchangeable value, however scarce it might be, or whatever quantity of labour might be necessary to procure it.
corn lasts difficulty
The price of corn will naturally rise with the difficulty of producing the last portions of it,...
tools materials
Money is neither a material to work upon nor a tool to work with.
wealth lost mediums
In the same manner if any nation wasted part of its wealth, or lost part of its trade, it could not retain the same quantity of circulating medium which it before possessed.
issues gold purpose
Experience, however, shows that neither a state nor a bank ever have [sic] had the unrestricted power of issuing paper money without abusing that power; in all states, therefore, the issue of paper money ought to be under some check and control; and none seems so proper for that purpose as that of subjecting the issuers of paper money to the obligation of paying their notes either in gold coin or bullion.
supposing-that errors consumption
There can be no greater error then in supposing that capital is increased by non-consumption.
powerful discovery doubt
Gold and silver are no doubt subject to fluctuations, from the discovery of new and more abundant mines; but such discoveries are rare, and their effects, though powerful, are limited to periods of comparatively short duration.
variation causes wages
A rise of wages from this cause will, indeed, be invariably accompanied by a rise in the price of commodities; but in such cases, it will be found that labour and all commodities have not varied in regard to each other, and that the variation has been confined to money.
men pay commodity
I have endeavoured to show that the ability to pay taxes depends, not on the gross money value of the mass of commodities, nor on the net money value of the revenue of capitalists and landlords, but on the money value of each man's revenue compared to the money value of the commodities which he usually consumes.
politics natural economy
Labour, like all other things which are purchased and sold... has its natural and its market price.
commodity increase difficulty
The exchangeable value of all commodities rises as the difficulties of their production increase.
way wages profit
There is no way of keeping profits up but by keeping wages down....
paper economics paper-money
Neither a state nor a bank ever have had unrestricted power of issuing paper money without abusing that power.