Political Philosophy PDF EPUB

On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation

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First published: 1817
Pages: 282

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About this book

David Ricardo set out to answer a question Adam Smith raised but never settled: how is the wealth a country produces divided among landlords, workers, and the owners of capital? His answer, published in 1817, turned economics into a system of deduction. Ricardo works out the labour theory of value, the law of diminishing returns on land, and the theory of rent that still carries his name. He also makes the case for comparative advantage, the argument that two countries both gain from trade even when one is better at producing everything, which remains the backbone of the free trade position. Austere, tightly reasoned, and formative for Mill, Marx, and the whole classical school. Available here as a free PDF and EPUB.

About the author

David Ricardo

David Ricardo (1772-1823) was a London stockbroker who made a fortune on the exchange before turning to political economy in his late thirties. Largely self-taught, he entered Parliament in 1819 and became, after Adam Smith, the most influential of the British classical economists.

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