David Ricardo (1772-1823), a British
economist, was one of the most influential of the
classical economists. He was also a successful businessman, financier and speculator, and amassed a considerable fortune.
Ideas associated with David Ricardo include:
- The theory of comparative advantage, which showed that nations could benefit from free trade, even if a nation was less efficient at producing all kinds of goods than its trading partners.
- Ricardian equivalence, an argument suggesting that in some circumstances the choice of a government to pay for spending using either taxes or deficit spending might have no effect on the economy.
- An analysis of the nature of land rent.
- [1] (http://www.econlib.org/library/Ricardo/ricP.html)Complete text of Ricardo's On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.