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David Ricardo

David Ricardo Quotes

Economist

David Ricardo (April 18, 1772 - September 11, 1823) was a British economist and one of the key figures in the classical school of economics. He is known for his theory of comparative advantage, which has had a profound impact on the development of economics.

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All Values Commodity Labour Profit Ifs Produce Quantity Wages May Fall Increase Class Corn Country Economy Effects Gold Labourers Landlord Demand

Famous David Ricardo Quotes

“The produce of the earth - all that is derived from its surface by the united application of labour, machinery, and capital, is divided among three classes of the community, namely, the proprietor of the land, the owner of the stock or capital necessary for its cultivation, and the labourers by whose industry it is cultivated.”

Earth Three Community United Class Land Produce Industry Surface Labour Owners Divided Application Machinery Cultivation Labourers

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“Possessing utility, commodities derive their exchangeable value from two sources: from their scarcity, and from the quantity of labour required to obtain them.”

Two Values Source Labour Quantity Commodity Utility Possessing Scarcity

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“LABOUR, like all other things which are purchased and sold, and which may be increased or diminished in quantity, has its natural and its market price. The natural price of labour is that price which is necessary to enable the labourers, on with another, to subsist and to perpetuate their race, without either increase or diminution.”

May Natural Race Increase Labour Quantity Labourers

Author:David Ricardo

“Labour, like all other things which are purchased and sold... has its natural and its market price.”

Wisdom Politics Natural Economy Liberalism Labour Labourers

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“But a rise in the wages of labour would not equally affect commodities produced with machinery quickly consumed, and commodities produced with machinery slowly consumed.”

Labour Commodity Wages Machinery Consumed

Book:The Works of David Ricardo. With a notice of the life and writings of the author: by J. R. McCulloch

Source: The Works of David Ricardo. With a notice of the life and writings of the author: by J. R. McCulloch

“If a commodity were in no way useful, - in other words, if it could in no way contribute to our gratification, - it would be destitute of exchangeable value, however scarce it might be, or whatever quantity of labour might be necessary to procure it.”

Ifs Way Might Would Be Values Labour Quantity Commodity Gratification Scarce Destitute

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“Gold and silver, like other commodities, have an intrinsic value, which is not arbitrary, but is dependent on their scarcity, the quantity of labour bestowed in procuring them, and the value of the capital employed in the mines which produce them.”

Values Produce Mines Gold Finance Dependent Labour Silver Quantity Commodity Employed Arbitrary Scarcity Intrinsic Value Gold And Silver

Book:The Works of David Ricardo ...

Source: The Works of David Ricardo ...

“There can be no rise in the value of labour without a fall of profits.”

Values Fall Profit Finance Labour Falling Apart

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“It is here we come to the heart of the matter. The economic principle of comparative advantage', 'a country may, in return for manufactured commodities, import corn even if it can be grown with less labour than in the country from which it is imported”

Ifs Heart May Country Matter Principles Economic Return Advantage Economics Labour Commodity Corn Imports Comparative Advantage

Author:David Ricardo

“By far the greatest part of those goods which are the objects of desire, are procured by labour and they may be multiplied, not in one country alone, but in many, almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.”

Ifs May Country Desire Objects Limits Labour Goods Objects Of Desire

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“A rise of wages from this cause will, indeed, be invariably accompanied by a rise in the price of commodities; but in such cases, it will be found that labour and all commodities have not varied in regard to each other, and that the variation has been confined to money.”

Has Beens Found Causes Cases Regard Labour Commodity Wages Variation Confined

Book:On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

Source: On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation

“It is not by the absolute quantity of produce obtained by either class, that we can correctly judge of the rate of profit, rent, and wages, but by the quantity of labour required to obtain that produce.”

Class Produce Judging Absolutes Rate Profit Labour Quantity Wages

Book:The Works of David Ricardo, Esq., M.P.: With a Notice of the Life and Writings of the Author

Source: The Works of David Ricardo, Esq., M.P.: With a Notice of the Life and Writings of the Author

“But it is clear that the price of labour has no necessary connection with the price of food, since it depends entirely on the supply of labourers compared with the demand.”

Clear Depends Demand Connections Labour Labourers

Book:The Works of David Ricardo. With a notice of the life and writings of the author: by J. R. McCulloch

Source: The Works of David Ricardo. With a notice of the life and writings of the author: by J. R. McCulloch