Course Video 3: David Ricardo on Rent and on Trade

Lynne Kiesling

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/66335887 w=500&h=281]

David Ricardo: Principles of Political Economy & Taxation from Lynne Kiesling on Vimeo.

You may know David Ricardo for his pioneering analysis of comparative advantage as the foundation of mutually beneficial specialization and trade. Ricardo’s work goes farther and deeper than that, exploring (among other things) the determinants of rent accruing to fixed inputs like land, the distribution of income among landowners and labor, and the effects of taxation. Ricardo’s excellent analyses arise from his economic context of trade blockades during the Napoleonic Wars, and the ensuing Corn Laws that Parliament passed to block the importation of inexpensive grain to compete against those politically powerful landowners.

1 thought on “Course Video 3: David Ricardo on Rent and on Trade”

  1. Dr John S Cook

    These insights of david Ricardo (1772-1823) need to be tempered with the insights of Johan von Thunen (1783-1850) to help in understanding the effects of transport costs on commodity prices at the ‘farm gate’ – or the mine, or the mill or the factory – on land rents, values and taxation for agricultural, commercial and industrial lands.

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