PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY AND TAXATION

David Ricardo is credited with synthesizing economics in the 19th century. Though some of Ricardos theories have been modified and superseded, his foundational role in the development of economics is widely acknowledged.His famous book appeared under the title On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation in 1817 and had three editions before his death in 1823. In the Preface of the Principles, Ricardo clearly stated the three major objectives of the book. First, to determine the laws which regulate the distribution of national product among three social classes workers as wages, rentiers as rent and capitalists as profit. Secondly, to see how economic progress would affect the relative distributive shares in a capitalist economy. Thirdly, it aimed at observing the effects of taxation on different social and economic classes, viz. landlords, workers and capitalists.No other book dominated the economic thought of the times and beyond as did Ricardos Principles. It has given concepts like the Theory of Rent, which was the first clear exposition of the source and magnitude of land rents and is among the most important and firmly established principles of economics; and the Theory of Comparative Advantage which became an integral part of neoclassical trade theory and is the basis for most economists belief in free trade today. The book uses the Law of Diminishing Returns developed by Ricardo in one of his earlier works, to underpin his elaborate economic system. Ricardos theories and views on Value, Distribution, Wages, Profits, Foreign Trade, Taxes and Fiscal Equivalence are the milestones of economic thought.This reprint of the book with a comprehensive Introduction has been brought to help the students, teachers and researchers of Economics in their academic pursuits, and for the economists to delve deeply into the subject and draw valuable conclusions for future progress of society.

Book Contents

Preface; Original Preface; Advertisement to the Third Edition; Introduction; 1. On Value; 2. On Rent; 3. On the Rent of Mines; 4. On Natural and Market Price; 5. On Wages; 6. On Profits; 7. On Foreign Trade; 8. On Taxes; 9. Taxes on Raw Produce ; 10. Taxes on Rent; 11. Tithes; 12. Land-Tax; 13. Taxes on Gold; 14. Taxes on Houses; 15. Taxes on Profits; 16. Taxes on Wages; 17. Taxes on Other Commodities than Raw Produce; 18. Poor Rates; 19. On Sudden Changes in the Channels of Trade; 20. Value and Riches, Their Distinctive Properties; 21. Effects of Accumulation on Profits and Interest; 22. Bounties on Exportation, and Prohibitions of Importation; 23. On Bounties on Production; 24. Doctrine of Adam Smith Concerning the Rent of Land; 25. On Colonial Trade; 26. On Gross and Net Revenue; 27. On Currency and Banks; 28. On the Comparative Value of Gold, Corn, and Labour, in Rich and Poor Countries; 29. Taxes Paid by the Producer; 30. On the Influence of Demand and Supply on Prices; 31. On Machinery; 32. Mr. Malthuss Opinions on Rent; Index

About The Author

David Ricardo was born, of Jewish parents, on 18 April 1772. His interest in economics developed rather late, at the age of 29 after reading Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations. Ricardos subsequent friendship with two of the leading economists at that timeJames Mill and T.R. Malthusfurther stimulated his interest in the science of economics. Besides The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Ricardo published four monographs/pamphlets (1) The High Price of Bullion A Proof of the Depreciation of Bank Notes (1810); (2) Reply to Mr. Bosanquets Practical Observations on the Report of the Bullion Committee (1811); (3) An Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock (1815); and (4) Proposals for an Economical and Secure Currency. (1816). Ricardo was a member of the British Parliament and he was much respected because of his eminence as an economist. Ricardian economics dominated mainstream economic thinking in England for almost the whole of 19th century. As John Maynard Keynes put it in his General Theroy (1936), Ricardo conquered England as completely as the Holy Inquisition conquered Spain.R.N. Ghosh is currently a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia. He is a specialist in the history of economic thought. In recent years he has also published on topics relating to a wide range of development issues such as good governance, corruption, gender issues, the environment, and the role of tourism in economic change. He is the current chairman of the International Institute for Development Studies (IIDS-Australia). Professor Ghosh has recently published with Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, a South Asian reprint of Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations. A prolific writer, he has contributed papers in a wide range of scholarly international journals.