Ricardo's Macroeconomics
Money, Trade Cycles, and Growth

This book describes the contribution of David Ricardo to the development of macroeconomics.

Timothy Davis (Author)

9780521844741, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 May 2005

330 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.65 kg

"Timothy Davis has produced a well researched, well written and scholarly piece of work." - Terry Peach, Manchester University, History of Economic Thought and Methodology

The outline of modern macroeconomics took shape in Britain in the early nineteenth century thanks, in part, to David Ricardo, one of the most influential economists of the time. Britain was challenged by monetary inflation, industrial unemployment and the loss of jobs abroad. Ricardo pointed the way forward. As a financier and Member of Parliament, he was well versed in politics and commercial affairs. His expertise is shown by the practicality of his proposals, including the resumption of the gold standard, which was essential given the destabilizing policy of the Bank of England. Ricardo's expertise appears also in his debate with T. R. Malthus about whether an industrial economy can suffer a prolonged depression. Say's Law of Markets and the Quantity Theory of Money figure prominently in his works, but not in an extreme form. He was instead a subtle theorist, recognizing the non-neutrality of money, trade depressions and unemployment.

List of abbreviations
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The business cycle of 1815–18
3. The business cycle of 1818–25
4. Ricardo as an empirical economist
5. Ricardo's analysis of postwar events
6. The law of markets
7. Monetary policy
8. Conclusion
List of abbreviations used in the appendices
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], History of ideas [JFCX]