- 01Preface: distribution of produce among landowners, capitalists, and labourers
Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
by David Ricardo · 1817 · 31 chapters · 24/7 tutor
Rent, trade, distribution, and comparative advantage.
31Chapters
115Lessons
257Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain core classical political economy concepts such as value, rent, wages, and profits
- Analyze how land rent changes with cultivation and differences in land quality
- Compare natural price and market price using supply, demand, and production conditions
- Describe the economic effects of taxes on raw produce, houses, wages, profits, and gold
- Assess how foreign trade influences money distribution, exchange, and comparative value
- Evaluate the incidence and trade-offs of taxation across different sectors and incomes
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 31
- Lessons
- 115
- Topics
- 257
- 01Value in use and value in exchange
- 02Labour as the source of exchangeable value
- 03Why labour is not a stable measure of value
- 04Labour as the measure of relative value
- 05Accumulation of capital and exchangeable value
- 06Labour embodied in manufactured goods
- 07Fixed and circulating capital
- 01Effect of wages on relative value
- 01Effect of labour changes on fish prices
- 02Different proportions of fixed and circulating capital
- 03Different durability of fixed capital
- 01Durability of fixed capital and price effects
- 01Machinery, wages, and commodity prices
- 01Money as a variable medium of exchange
- 01Nature of rent and its distinction from capital returns
- 01Rent on first cultivation of land
- 02Rise of rent as inferior land is cultivated
- 03Additional capital on old land and rent
- 01Raw produce and the regulation of value
- 02Rent as effect, not cause, of high corn prices
- 03Wealth, population, and the rise or fall of rent
- 01Agricultural improvements and falling rent
- 02Improvements that raise land productivity
- 03Improvements that reduce labour and money rent
- 01Rent of mines and metal value
- 01Natural price versus market price
- 02Competition and capital transfer
- 03Temporary changes in demand and profits
- 01Natural and market price of labour
- 02Capital growth and rising wages
- 03Habits, necessities, and country differences
- 04Population, production, and wages in different societies
- 05Wages, food prices, and the labourer's condition
- 06Gold, money, and the effect of rising wages on prices
- 07Free competition and the poor laws
- 01Abolition of the poor laws
- 02Gradual repeal and parish-based relief
- 01Permanent variations in the rate of profit
- 01How rising corn prices affect farmer profits
- 02Rent, wages, and the fixed value of produce
- 01Rise in raw produce and falling profits
- 02Wages, capital, and commodity prices
- 01Profits, wages, and market prices
- 02The falling tendency of profits
- 03Illustrative calculation of corn prices and rent
- 01Compensation from rising stock values
- 02Aggregate profits and capital accumulation
- 03Landlords, wages, and falling profits
- 04Fertility of land and the rate of profit
- 01Foreign trade and national value
- 02Capital shifts and profit rates in trade
- 03Benefits of foreign trade without higher profits
- 04Comparative advantage and international specialization
- 05Comparative advantage in wine and cloth
- 06Capital immobility and profit differences
- 01Distribution of the precious metals through foreign trade
- 02Effects of manufacturing improvements on prices and money
- 01Comparative value of money across countries
- 02Distinguishing low money value from high commodity prices
- 01Comparative value of money and the exchange rate
- 01Money depreciation and the gold standard
- 02Taxes as claims on capital or revenue
- 03Taxes on transfers of property
- 01Tax on raw produce raises price
- 02Effect on rent and corn rent
- 03Illustration with three qualities of land
- 04Consumers, other commodities, and wages
- 01Objections to taxes on raw produce
- 01High prices of necessaries and wages
- 02Taxes on raw produce and accumulation
- 01Taxes on production and profits
- 02Effect of raw produce taxes on foreign competition
- 01Effect on foreign trade
- 01Tax on rent and landlord incidence
- 01Tithes as a tax on gross produce
- 02Effects of tithes on prices, rents, and the church's share
- 01Land-tax levied in proportion to rent
- 01Adam Smith's four maxims of taxation
- 02Equal land-tax and its effects on corn prices
- 03Taxes on land produce and the landlord's burden
- 04Tithes, unequal incidence, and cultivation
- 05The English land-tax and fixed valuations
- 01M. Say's proposed tax on agricultural profits
- 02Tax incidence on landlords, farmers, and consumers
- 03Comparison with tithes and taxes on raw produce
- 01Taxes in kind and tithes
- 02Rent, profit, and incidence of the tax
- 01How taxation raises commodity prices
- 02Taxing gold and the burden on money holders
- 01Money demand and gold's value
- 02Taxing gold production and Spain's gains
- 01Effect of a heavy gold tax on mine profitability
- 02Spain’s output and tax distribution after the levy
- 01Taxes on houses and rent incidence
- 01Taxes on luxuries and necessaries
- 02Taxes on profits and commodity prices
- 01Taxing profits when money is untaxed
- 02Different effects on fixed and circulating capital
- 01Taxation and relative commodity prices
- 02Unequal effects of money value changes under taxation
- 03Bank-restriction and price variation
- 01Taxing profits of all trades except farming
- 02Taxing the farmer's profits and rent effects
- 01Taxing profits and the stockholder
- 01Tax on wages and its effect on profits
- 02Adam Smith on wages and provisions
- 03Buchanan's objections and Ricardo's reply
- 01Adam Smith on a tax on wages
- 01Landlords, manufacturers, and the burden of wage taxes
- 01Tax on wages as a tax on profits
- 01Dr. Smith’s censure of taxes on wages
- 02Free trade in precious metals and exchange rates
- 01Taxes upon luxuries and their incidence
- 01Taxes on necessaries and wages shifted to the rich
- 01Taxation, demand, and production
- 02Indirect effects on prices, wages, and exports
- 01Taxes on luxuries and exportable commodities
- 01Taxes on manufactured commodities and luxuries
- 02National debt, loans, and public expenditure
- 01Monopoly price and exchangeable value
- 01Raw produce and monopoly price
- 01Adam Smith on taxes on malt and barley
- 02Buchanan and Say on who bears the tax
- 01Poor rates as a mixed tax
- 02How poor rates are assessed on land
- 03Effects of unequal poor rates on prices and profits
- 01Temporary reverses from shifting trade channels
- 02War, peace, and revulsions in trade
- 03Agriculture’s exposure to import shocks
- 04Capital fixed in land and falling corn prices
- 05Withdrawal of movable capital and importation
- 06Analogy with obsolete machinery
- 01Value versus riches
- 02Scarcity and the standard of value
- 01Monopoly of water versus scarcity
- 02Wealth and value in two countries
- 03Adam Smith's definition of riches
- 04Two ways a country's wealth can increase
- 01Two modes of increasing wealth
- 02Capital, production, and value
- 03M. Say on riches and value
- 01Say’s circular definition of riches, value, and utility
- 02Natural agents and machinery as sources of use, not exchange value
- 03Smith’s theory of exchangeable value and Say’s own statement
- 01Value, riches, and abundance of commodities
- 02Accumulation of capital, wages, and profits
- 01Productions bought by productions
- 02Limits of demand and profits
- 03Foreign trade and carrying trade
- 01Adam Smith on the carrying trade
- 01Market rate of interest as a guide to profits
- 02Legal interest rates and wartime borrowing
- 03Temporary variations in interest from prices and demand
- 01Bounty on corn exportation
- 01Effects of a corn export bounty on demand and prices
- 02Critique of the view that a bounty raises all commodity prices
- 01Bounty effects on corn prices and capital flows
- 02Adam Smith's argument on bounties and wages
- 01Corn prices and the value of commodities
- 02Bounties, money degradation, and exportation
- 01Landlords’ permanent interest in corn prohibitions
- 01Buchanan on the value of corn and bounties
- 02Bounty effects on labour, manufactures, and money
- 01Mercantile restrictions and higher prices
- 02Adam Smith, Say, and bullion exportation
- 01Tax-funded bounty on corn production
- 02Effects on landlords, wages, and profits
- 03Bounty on commodities and foreign trade
- 01Adam Smith on rent and market price
- 02Critique of the claim that food always yields rent
- 03Capital employed on land and ordinary profits
- 01Rent of mines and land
- 01Least fertile mine regulates coal prices
- 01Potatoes, wheat, and rent
- 01Landlord’s gain from dear corn
- 02Money price versus relative price of corn
- 03Adam Smith on free importation of corn
- 01Adam Smith on free colonial trade
- 02Bounties, restraints, and colonial monopoly
- 01Commercial treaties and monopoly markets
- 01Distribution of the precious metals in foreign trade
- 02Colonial trade and exclusive privileges
- 01Cost of production as the regulator of price
- 02Colonial trade, profits, and prices
- 01Gross versus net revenue
- 02Capital in home and foreign trade
- 01General laws of money value and quantity
- 02Seignorage, coinage, and paper money
- 01Paper money need not be payable in specie
- 02Bank of England coinage expense and seignorage
- 03Debased currency and the drain of specie
- 01Regulating paper money by coin convertibility
- 02State versus bank issuance of paper money
- 01Government paper money under independent commissioners
- 02Market interest and bank lending rates
- 01Bank lending below market interest
- 02Paper money and the quantity of capital
- 03Scotch cash accounts and circulation
- 04Gold and silver as currency
- 01Gold and silver market valuation
- 02Debased silver and legal-tender choice
- 03Gold as the practical standard before 1797
- 01Silver legal tender and debased coin
- 02Gold and silver as competing standards of value
- 03Guinea exchange rates in King William's reign and 1774
- 01Seignorage, paper currency, and depreciation
- 02Gold, corn, and labour in rich and poor countries
- 03Natural price of corn and foreign trade
- 04Critique of Adam Smith on corn prices
- 05Comparing gold by different commodities
- 01Gold value in rich and poor countries
- 02Taxes on manufactured goods and advance costs
- 01Cost of production versus demand and supply
- 02Monopoly prices and market value
- 03Lauderdale's law of value variations
- 01Malthus on rent as value, not wealth
- 02Rent and the causes of high-priced raw produce
- 03Relative fertility, scarcity, and the rise of rent
- 04Corn's necessary price and demand
- 05Causes of rising raw produce prices
- 06Real price, market price, and production incentives
- 01Real price of corn and market price
- 02Malthus on the measure of value
- 03Permanent variations in commodity prices
- 04Effect of cheaper corn on total expenditure
- 01Effect of cheap corn on taxes and nominal income
- 02Wages, profits, and the real burden of taxation
- 01Foreign corn and the loss of rent
- 01Adam Smith on labour, nature, and rent
- 02Say on price, taxes, and consumption
- 03Buchanan's critique of agricultural rent
- 04Corn-rent and money-rent under rising prices
- 01M. Say's opinions on rent and taxation
- 01Capital improvements that become rent
- 02Real and nominal price of labour and commodities
- 03Say on silver, value, and accumulated labour
- 01Public loans and the rate of interest
- 02Export bounties and the corn bounty
- 03Import prohibitions and domestic monopolies
- 01Home trade and foreign trade
- 02Money, coin, and seignorage
- 01Seignorage and bullion value of currency
- 01Observations on the Corn Laws notes
- 01Capital and profits
- 02Commodities and corn
- 01Demand and supply on prices
- 02Labour, land, and rent
- 01Malthus's views on rent and production
- 01Paper currency and specie convertibility
- + 1 more topic inside the course.
- + 1 more topic inside the course.
- + 4 more topics inside the course.
- + 1 more topic inside the course.
01How many chapters are in the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation course?
The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation course has 31 chapters, each with its own lessons and topics.
02How many lessons are in the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation course?
There are 115 lessons across the course, and you can ask your 24/7 tutor about any of them.
03Can I see what the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation course covers before I start?
Yes. The full curriculum is listed on this page, beginning with "LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET".
04Do I get a certificate for the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation course?
Yes. Finishing the course earns a personal Cavua certificate of completion.
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