2.5 — Ricardian Rent Theory — Readings
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Required Readings:
- David Ricardo & The High Price of Bullion, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation in Reader
- start Ch.5 “Ricardo and Malthus” in Landreth & Colander
- start Ch.4 “Ricardo’s System” in Blaug
Recommended Readings:
The following Wikipedia entries can also provide more background:
Questions to Help Your Reading
- How were the theories and policy recommendations affected by the events of the era?
- What were the Corn Laws?
- What is the principle of comparative costs (or comparative advantage)?
- What did Ricardo view was the purpose, scope, and proper method of economics?
- How was Ricardo’s focus different than Smith’s?
- What was Ricardo’s view on the labor theory of value?
- What is the role of capital (and capitalists), and of land (and landlords), in Ricardo’s model?
- What is rent? Where does it come from? Is it “price-determined” or “price-determining?”
- How is the rate of rent determined?
- What is the difference between the “intensive margin” and the “extensive margin”?
- What is profit? Where does it come from? Is it “price-determined” or “price-determining?”
- How might we describe Ricardo’s production theory with modern production functions?
- How did Ricardo integrate Malthusian population dynamics into his model?
- How does diminishing returns figure into Ricardo’s model?