|
Sponsored Links
David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was an English political economist, often credited with systematizing economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus and Adam Smith. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator, and amassed a considerable personal fortune. He is credited with demonstrating the economic principle of comparative advantage, the underlying basis for free trade. Ricardo showed that there is mutual benefit to trade, even trade to countries with higher overall productivity, when each country specializes in areas where it has relative productivity advantage.[1] Born in London, Ricardo was the third of seventeen children of a man from an Iberian Sephardic Jewish family who had recently relocated from Holland). At age 21, he eloped with a Quaker, Priscilla Anne Wilkinson, leading to estrangement from his family. It seems that his mother never spoke to him again. At the time of his marriage, Ricardo disconnected from Judaism and became a Unitarian.[2] He had eight children including three sons, of whom Osman Ricardo (1795-1881; MP for Worcester 1847-1865) and another David Ricardo (1803-1864, MP for Stroud 1832-1833) became members of parliament, while the third, Mortimer Ricardo, served as an officer in the Life Guards and was a deputy lieutenant for Oxfordshire. He was one of the original members of The Geological Society.[2] Ricardo became interested in economics after reading Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations in 1799 on a vacation to the English resort of Bath. This was Ricardo's first contact with economics. He wrote his first economics article at age 37 and within another ten years he reached the height of his fame. Ricardo's work with the stock exchange made him quite wealthy, which allowed him to retire from business in 1814 at the age of 42. He then purchased and moved to Gatcombe Park, an estate in Gloucestershire.
|
David Ricardo Subcategories
David Ricardo Articles
|
|
