The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation

Born in London, David Ricardo was the third child in a family of at least 17 children. His father, a Dutch Jew, was a successful stockbroker who had moved to London in 1760. Ricardo did not have the typical classical education afforded the children of other wealthy families, but his father supplied him with tutors, and he spent three years in an exclusive Jewish school in Amsterdam. At age 14 he began working in his father's brokerage business. Ricardo learned the brokerage trade well, and he would have been regarded as a rousing success by his family had he not married a Quaker and joined the Unitarian church, causing an estrangement from his father. His abilities as a stockbroker, however, were such that he quickly found other employment. Before long, he had amassed a small fortune, and, by his early forties, he was able to retire and devote time to his new interest, economics. In 1809 Ricardo published his first article, which dealt with the price of gold and the value of the British pound. This was followed by a popular pamphlet, The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of Bank Notes (1810), in which he argued that the excess production of paper bank notes depreciated their value. The House of Commons became so alarmed by Ricardo's argument that it formed a committee to examine the high price of bullion and issued the famous and controversial Bullion Report. During the bullion controversy, Ricardo developed two interesting friendships. The first was with John Stuart Mill, who took it upon himself to review Ricardo's manuscript and help him develop his literary skills. The second was with Thomas Malthus, who would debate topics with Ricardo in order to help him to clarify his positions. Although Ricardo and Malthus often took opposing positions on many public issues, their differences never got in the way of their lifelong friendship. The events of the period had a strong influence on Ricardo's economic theories. England at this time was divide