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.