economics: Malthus, Ricardo, and Mill

Malthus, Ricardo, and Mill

One of the most influential writers of the 19th cent. was Thomas Malthus, whose predictions that population growth would always tend to outstrip advances in the means of subsistence earned for economics the title “the dismal science.” The most important economist to follow Smith was David Ricardo. His analysis of rent long remained the classic account, while his theory of labor value was later adopted by socialists as well as classical economists. Ricardo's “iron law of wages” supplemented Malthus's pessimistic thesis by asserting that wages tend to stabilize at the subsistence level. John Stuart Mill was a follower of Ricardo and contributed to the study of international trade as well as to the study of the economics of industrial expansion. Among critics of free trade outside Britain were the German Friedrich List and the American Henry C. Carey.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
Since World War II
Keynes
Further Evolution of Classical Economics
The Socialists and Marx
Malthus, Ricardo, and Mill
Mercantilism, the Physiocrats, and Adam Smith
Ancient and Medieval Periods
Bibliography

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Economics: Terms and Concepts