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
country desire may
By far the greatest part of those goods which are the objects of desire, are procured by labour and they may be multiplied, not in one country alone, but in many, almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.
class judging wages
It is not by the absolute quantity of produce obtained by either class, that we can correctly judge of the rate of profit, rent, and wages, but by the quantity of labour required to obtain that produce.
stupidity profit made
Profits are not made by differential cleverness, but by differential stupidity.
country commodity mass
No extension of foreign trade will immediately increase the amount of value in a country, although it will very powerfully contribute to increase the mass of commodities and therefore the sum of enjoyments.
fall profit labour
There can be no rise in the value of labour without a fall of profits.
land may corn
If I discover a manure which will enable me to make a piece of land produce 20 per cent more corn, I may withdraw at least a portion of my capital from the most unproductive part of my farm.
country heart may
It is here we come to the heart of the matter. The economic principle of comparative advantage', 'a country may, in return for manufactured commodities, import corn even if it can be grown with less labour than in the country from which it is imported
country prosperity profit
Nothing contributes so much to the prosperity and happiness of a country as high profits.
wages profit farmers
The farmer and manufacturer can no more live without profit than the labourer without wages.
amount beneficial british-economist facility food increases obtaining owners raises time ways
The facility of obtaining food is beneficial in two ways to the owners of capital, it at the same time raises profits and increases the amount of consumable commodities.
british-economist capital invested machinery
The proportions, too, in which the capital that is to support labour, and the capital that is invested in tools, machinery and buildings, may be variously combined.
british-economist common retrograde states wages whether
The rise or fall of wages is common to all states of society, whether it be the stationary, the advancing, or the retrograde state.
british-economist
The exchangeable value of all commodities, rises as the difficulties of their production increase.
british-economist capital gradually left produce withdraw
If we were left to ourselves, unfettered by legislative enactments, we should gradually withdraw our capital from the cultivation of such lands, and import the produce which is at present raised upon them.