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Writer · Politician · Banker · Philosopher
British economist and politician. Known for his theory of comparative production costs and rent, he developed classical economics. He is a person who thinks about free trade theory during the industrial revolution.
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Work
On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
1817
Book
Development of classical political economy
1817–1823
Movement · Participant
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born into a Jewish merchant family in London, he made his fortune through financial transactions. Corn laws, trade, wages, profits, and the interests of the landed class were political issues in England during the Industrial Revolution.
In 1817, he wrote ``Principles of Economics and Taxation,'' in which he explained the benefits of international division of labor and free trade using the theory of comparative production costs. The theory of rent and distribution also became the core of classical economics.
Ricardo was a theoretician with experience in business and parliamentary politics. Although he used abstract economic models, he was unique in that he was directly involved in the corn law debate and trade policy of the time.
If you study Ricardo, you will see that the economic ideas of the Industrial Revolution were born out of actual class interests and policy debates. The concept of comparative advantage is a fundamental concept for understanding the modern world economy and free trade. We can also see the process by which economic theory is used to explain world order.
