Biography
David Ricardo is a British economist who was engaged in the development of theories of competition, cost and money. He became the author of the concept about the forms of land rent. Being a follower of Adam Smith, Ricardo developed the ideas of philosopher and built the theory of distribution. She described the value of the cost of goods through labor costs and their distribution between public grades.Childhood and youth
David Ricardo was born on April 18, 1772 in London. He turned out to be the third of 17 children born by Abigail Delvall from the spouse of Abraham Ricardo. The Family of Portuguese Jews emigrated from Holland to the UK shortly before the child's appearance. The boy's father worked as a stock exchange broker.
Under 14, David studied in Holland, and then began to adopt the skills of Ricardo-senior, helping to work at the London Stock Exchange. Here, the young man is incited by commerce, participating in the implementation of trading operations. Father calmly left the 16-year-old son for the main and trusted him the fulfillment of responsible instructions.
Personal life
When a young man was 21 years old, he married Priscilla Ann Wilkinson. Being a commitment to Judaism in childhood and youth, combining marriage, Ricardo accepted the Unitarian faith. His parents were against this religious preference that he gave rise to disagreements. David had to make a choice, and he chose the beliefs of his father and his mother's own personal life. After that, relatives did not communicate.Ricardo did not have the need for material resources, having lost their support and support in the form of a family. By the time he managed to scat the amount equal to the salary of the chernobia for 20 years. He also had experience in the field of exchange operations and the ability to secure himself, spouse and children. By the way, the wife presented an economist for eight siblings. Two sons of the pair later became members of parliament, and one was the officer of the Royal Guard.
Scientific activity
After a quarrel with the parents, David began to create his own business. One of the banks' houses had supported him. Subsequently, Ricardo managed to earn a fortune, speculating by the battle at Waterloo. According to newspapers of that time, on these operations, he earned £ 1 million. This amount made it possible to resign, buy an estate in Gloucestershire and become a wealthy landowner.
By that time, David Ricardo was no longer engaged in practice in the field of financial operations, but devoted his biography of economic theory. Interest in this area woke up from a man back in 1799, after acquaintance with the book Adam Smith "Wealth of Peoples". After 10 years, he published the first author's thematic article. In 1817, the main work of the British was published - the work of the "start of political economy and taxation".
David was engaged in researching issues affecting the interests of different public classes. One of the sharp contradictions in which he tried to figure out, became duties on the bread imported into the country. They brought the profits to landowners, but affected the wage to the workers who had to buy an expensive product. In this situation, Ricardo defended the interests of manufacturers who were forced to seek funds to increase wages.
In the summer of 1819, a man became a member of the House of Commons and received a place in parliament, bought mandate. The economist has gained the image of the reformer. Formally, he remained non-partisan, but the views of Vigov representatives, unlike Tori, turned out to be closer to him. The researcher performed at meetings, supporting the abolition of "bread laws", commenting on the liberalization of the economy, the possibility of free trade and a decrease in public debt.
The theoretical contributed to the economy, describing the capital, theory of rent and wages, as well as the theory of money. The latter was based on postulates similar to the golden standard.
The concept of a researcher who considered that the state should not interfere in the economy, and entrepreneurship - to have significant restrictions, was based on the main ideas:
- There are 3 types of revenues corresponding to classes, among whom: the rent belongs to landowners, profits - capitalists and owners, salary - workers and production workers;
- Political economy should determine the laws on income distribution;
- The state should not be involved in production and distribution. Taxation is the main type of interaction between the state and people. At the same time, taxes must be kept low to avoid poverty. The source of enrichment of the nation is accumulated.
Ricardo was the first to formulate how the theory of labor costs is explained in the ratio of prices of goods in the context of competing competition. The philosopher commented on the developed cost theory, told about the laws on which the distribution of products between classes is carried out.
David believed that with an increase in wages there will be a demographic explosion. It can lead to a decrease in the amount of personnel remuneration due to an increase in the number of workers and the growth of suggestions for their services. Speaking of unemployment, the economist believed that she was not a place in a market economy, since the excessive population dies.
The philosopher has developed the theory of comparative advantages, believing that each country should specialize in the production of products that have the greatest comparative efficiency. In the production of such goods by the state, labor costs should decrease. The theory of territorial division of labor implied that free trade leads to profiling of the manufacture of concrete positions in each country. This contributes to an increase in the volume of goods and consumption growth in states.
Death
David Ricardo died in the fall of 1823. The cause of death was the infection of the middle ear, provoked by sepsis. The grave of the famous economist is located in Wiltshire, in the cemetery of St. Nicholas.In the textbooks in economics publish portraits of theorist. In the book "Youth of science. The life and ideas of knowledge-economists before Marx "is devoted to him by the head called" David Ricardo: Genius from City. "
Quotes
- "Water and air are extremely useful, they are directly necessary for existence, however, under normal conditions, they can not get anything in exchange. On the contrary, gold, although its utility in comparison with air or water is very small, exchanges for a large number of other goods. "
- "Thus, the usefulness is not a measure of exchange value, although it is absolutely significant for this latter. If the subject is not suitable for anything, in other words, if he does not serve as our needs, he will be deprived of exchange cost, no matter how rare it, or what would be the amount of labor needed to receive it. "
- "Countyal Country is either the main, or negotiable depending on the degree of its durability."
- "It is necessary to reduce its production to reduce capital to the country; Therefore, if such [non-production] expenses of the people and the government continue and if the annual reproduction is constantly decreasing, the resources of the people and the state will fall with increasing speed, and the result will be poverty and ruin. "
Bibliography
- 1810 - "High price of gold bars: proof of depreciation of banknotes"
- 1815 - "Essay on the effect of low grain price for capital yield"
- 1817 - "The beginning of political economy and taxation"