2015-10-13
1052
DAVID RICARDO (1772 – 1823)
1. David Ricardo is one of the history’s most influential economists. He was born in London and was the third of 17 children. His parents (Jews) emigrated to England. His father was a successful stockbroker. Ricardo’s business career started at age 14. At that age he began working for his father. At age 21, Ricardo eloped and married a Quaker. His father disowned him and his mother apparently never spoke to him again. Without family support, Ricardo started his own business as a stockbroker. In this sphere he became quite successful. During the Battle of Waterloo he bet against the French victory and invested in British securities. By the time (к тому времени, как) he retired from the Exchange at the age of 43, his fortune was estimated at about £600,000 of his time.
2. Ricardo's most famous work is his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). It marked him as the greatest spokesman for classical economics since Adam Smith. In international economics he demonstrated the advantages of free trade. To prove his point (для того чтобы подтвердить свою точку зрения), Ricardo developed a concept. Now we call this concept the principle of comparative advantage. Comparative advantage demonstrates the following – one nation might (могла бы) profitably import goods from another even though (даже если) the importing country could produce that item for less than the exporter.
3. Ricardo had no money problems. So he spent a great deal of time in intellectual pursuits. And he also became interested in many subjects. Besides political economy he studied mathematics, mineralogy, chemistry and geology. His career as an active political economist lasted but 14 years.
4. Ricardo died suddenly of an ear infection in 1823. He left an estate estimated at $126 million (current dollars). As Mark Blaug comments: “Ricardo may or may not have been the greatest economist that ever lived, but he was certainly the richest.”
VII. Напишите ответ на следующий вопрос: How did David Ricardo become rich?
Составитель
Ст. преподаватель кафедры ГЯиМП Е.В. Соловьянова
