In economics' “first real textbook,” Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, David Ricardo found it most important to explain the distribution of wealth, rather than just explaining its growth as had been done by Adam Smith. In the text, Ricardo's ideas are illustrated with the example of a single farm, with a single output, with the inputs of labor and land. He sought to “simplify the subject,” by first identifying relationships, and then using reasoning to draw series of conclusions. The development of such models by Ricardo as well as Malthus and their use of mathematics (especially calculus) were key in the progression of economic thought towards greater precision and understanding.
A for Jim.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Ricardo used few sources: so his book is more like the work of a blogger rather than a scholar.
Ricardo was also all about the distribution of income instead of its growth. So he is very much the root source of a lot of liberal politics.
It's also interesting that 200 years ago Malthus knew that you'd need calculus to do economics. It's still a tough sell to undergraduates though.