- Person
- David Ricardo
- Lived
- 1772–1823
- Field
- Economics and finance
- From
- British
The story
David Ricardo was born in London in 1772 into a Sephardic Jewish family of Portuguese origin. His father was a stockbroker who had come from Amsterdam, and David joined him in business at fourteen. After marrying a Quaker, Priscilla Anne Wilkinson, at twenty-one, he was estranged from his family and built his own fortune on the Stock Exchange. He then turned to political economy, and by 1823 he was one of Britain's best-known thinkers and member of Parliament for Portarlington.
Ricardo used his position to speak on trade and on the moral questions that trade raised. He opposed protections that favoured particular interests. In 1821 he voted against renewal of the sugar duties and objected to charging a higher duty on East Indian produce than on West Indian produce. He also sat with the opposition on many questions of liberty, voting for an inquiry into the Peterloo Massacre and for the abolition of the death penalty for forgery.
In March 1823 he spoke at a meeting of the Court of the East India Company. There he declared that he regarded slavery as a stain on the character of the nation. Coming from one of the era's most respected economists, the statement placed him firmly on the side of abolition.
His concern for human dignity extended to religious freedom too. In the same year he wrote that it was a disgrace to the age that many inhabitants of the country still suffered legal disabilities imposed in less enlightened times, singling out the Jews, who were reproached for the very occupations to which their exclusion had confined them. He hoped such prejudices would soon disappear and wished he could help bring about their fall.
Ricardo did not live to see either cause won. He died at his home, Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, on 11 September 1823, at the age of 51, after an ear infection spread and caused septicaemia. His public stand joined his commitments to free trade, parliamentary reform and criminal law reform as part of a consistent record as an earnest reformer.
Why it matters
Ricardo used his authority as an economist and MP to condemn slavery publicly, adding his voice to the movement that ended it.
About David Ricardo
Sephardic stockbroker’s son who made a fortune in the City, then founded classical economics, the theory of comparative advantage, rent and money behind the case for free trade.
More about David Ricardo
- David Ricardo voted to end the death penalty for forgeryAs an MP, David Ricardo voted in 1821 to abolish the death penalty for forgery, backed criminal law reform and sought an inquiry into the Peterloo Massacre.
- David Ricardo admitted machines could hurt workersIn 1821 David Ricardo added a chapter “On Machinery” to his Principles, openly changing his mind and accepting that machines could harm workers’ interests.
- David Ricardo proved that trade can benefit every nationIn his 1817 Principles, David Ricardo introduced comparative advantage, showing that two countries gain from trade even if one is better at producing everything.
- David Ricardo warned against issuing too much moneyIn 1810 David Ricardo published The High Price of Bullion, arguing that the Bank of England’s excessive note issue had caused banknotes to lose value.
- David Ricardo’s theory of rent inspired later reformersDavid Ricardo explained economic rent as the extra return from better land, an idea that inspired Henry George’s 1879 classic Progress and Poverty.
- David Ricardo campaigned against Britain’s Corn LawsDavid Ricardo argued that Britain’s Corn Laws made bread dearer and held back growth. After his death Parliament repealed them in 1846 and free trade became policy.
- David Ricardo backed reform of Parliament and the ballotDavid Ricardo used his seat in Parliament to support parliamentary reform and the secret ballot, speaking for reform at a Westminster dinner in 1822.
- David Ricardo proposed an independent central bankIn his Plan for the Establishment of a National Bank, published in 1824, David Ricardo argued that money should be issued by an independent public body.
Sources
- David Ricardo Wikipedia
- David Ricardo, Ireland's first Jewish MP Patrick Comerford
- Ricardo, David (1772–1823) Keir Armstrong, Carleton University (from The New Palgrave)
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.