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A calm investigation into Mr Ricardo's principles of international trade

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  • Gilbert Faccarello

Abstract

This paper deals with some difficulties presented by Ricardo's texts on international trade, taking seriously Ricardo's account of the systematic interaction of real and monetary phenomena. After a brief reassessment of the main features of Ricardo's views on foreign trade, some basic questions are examined, concerning the method of analysis and the alleged invalidity of the labour theory of value at the international level. The enquiry goes on to state that, for Ricardo, there are no significant differences between domestic and international exchanges, and on this basis, proposes a simple and general rule explaining the flows of trade. The "principle of comparative advantage" and the "gains from trade" thus appear as simple unintended consequences of the decisions of agents in free markets. Finally, the characteristics of an international equilibrium and the nature and impact of destabilising shocks are analysed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Faccarello, 2015. "A calm investigation into Mr Ricardo's principles of international trade," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 754-790, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:22:y:2015:i:5:p:754-790
    DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2015.1086011
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    1. Andrea Maneschi, 1998. "Comparative Advantage in International Trade," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 856.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Parrinello, Sergio, 2022. "On Some “New” Interpretations of Ricardo’s Principle of Comparative Advantages," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP60, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    3. Morales Meoqui, Jorge, 2023. "The Demystification Of David Ricardo’S Famous Four Numbers," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 447-466, September.
    4. Yoshinori Shiozawa, 2020. "A new framework for analyzing technological change," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 989-1034, September.
    5. Morales Meoqui, Jorge & Assistant, JHET, 2020. "Overcoming Absolute And Comparative Advantage: A Reappraisal Of The Relative Cheapness Of Foreign Commodities As The Basis Of International Trade," OSF Preprints u6esg, Center for Open Science.
    6. Taro Hisamatsu, 2016. "Constructing a Myth that Ricardo Was the Father of the Ricardian Model of International Trade: A Reconsideration of Torrens f Principles of Comparative Advantage and Gain-from-trade," Discussion Papers 1630, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    7. Madarász, Aladár, 2024. "Posztót borért. Töredékek egy "nem triviális, de igaz" közgazdasági doktrína történetéből [Cloth for wine. Fragments from the history of a non-trivial but true" economic doctrine]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 379-407.

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