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Defense versus Opulence? An Appraisal of the Malthus-Ricardo 1815 Controversy on the Corn Laws

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  • Neri Salvadori
  • Rodolfo Signorino

Abstract

This article proposes a rational reconstruction of the arguments of Malthus and Ricardo in their 1815 essays, Grounds of an Opinion and An Essay on Profits, whereby a policy of free corn trade was repudiated and endorsed, respectively. Malthus envisaged defense and (trade-induced) opulence as two mutually alternative options and, if required to make a choice, he had no hesitation in choosing the former. By contrast, Ricardo excluded any such trade-off, arguing that even in the case of war or poor domestic harvest, foreign agricultural countries would be seriously damaged if they opted for restrictions on their corn exports to Great Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Neri Salvadori & Rodolfo Signorino, 2015. "Defense versus Opulence? An Appraisal of the Malthus-Ricardo 1815 Controversy on the Corn Laws," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 151-184, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:hop:hopeec:v:47:y:2015:i:1:p:151-184
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Attilio Trezzini, 2018. "Piero Sraffa’s Use of the History of Economic Thought in the Cambridge Lectures," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 4(1), pages 189-209, March.
    2. Neri Salvadori & Rodolfo Signorino, 2017. "From endogenous growth to stationary state: The world economy in the mathematical formulation of the Ricardian system," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 507-527, May.

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