David Ricardo Quotes
The wheat bought by a farmer to sow is comparatively a fixed capital to the wheat purchased by a baker to make into loaves.
Ricardo, David. On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation. 3rd ed., John Murray, 1821, p. 27.
While Turgot was right about so much, this was one of his big errors—the assumption that land was fundamental to and necessary for, wealth. In many countries it is still true, but of the recent billionaires like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Carlos Slim and most others, they own very little land. In the United States and Canada, there are large tracts of land that few or no one will buy and a cast majority of people do not make their living from land.
This quotation is historically important because it documents the radical change in agriculture that technology brought on. In this period it was steam power. There were steam powered tractors in addition to what he enumerated. The production cost and hence the prices of agricultural products became much lower increasing the standard of living for all consumers. However, the small farmer, without capitol and the scale of a large enough farm, was put in a position in that he could not compete with the major products of agriculture without huge investment in capital equipment and large enough farms. While many went out of business, many others shifted to specialized crops and raising animals where the automation was not as necessary. This process has been on going in American agriculture since the invention of mechanized farm implements, and the small farmer has gradually become more rare. But the process has been ongoing throughout American history.
David Ricardo was a British political economist, one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and James Mill. He was also a politician, and a member of the Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland.
