David Ricardo's Theory Of Corn Law

Corn Laws were created in Britain in 1815-1846, which were putting tariffs on corn imports so that British people would only buy domestically and support their domestic prices. The reason for that was because of the relative law prices of the competitors outside Britain. On one hand Malthuas favored and supported these laws accordingly because he thought that in order to ensure sufficient agriculture capacity in times of war, domestic production should be prioritized and secured from foreign imports. While recognizing that sometimes positive role of market foresees are necessary, Malthus rejected a doctrine of laissez-faire. In his Principles he wrote that ‘it is impossible for a government strictly to let things take their natural course’ (Malthus, 1836: 16)). His theory of gluts involoved a rejection of

(David Ricardo, Theory of Free International Trade). The neoclassical economists believed that in a competitive market, prices would direct consumers and cause the most efficient allocation of resources, which will maximize society’s income. This believe had developed the pure theory of trade and this also present Adam Smith’s theory in the invisible hand of the market and competition. Also, it shows the benefits of laissez-faire policy in relation to international exchange. The neoclassical economists strongly agree that the comparative advantage theory by David Ricardo is much more relevant to international trade then the absolute advantage by Adam Smiths.

As a conclusion, Ricardo and Malthus both are pessimistic to the future. While Adam Smith believed of a period of zero economic growth, Ricardo modified the growth model by adding the concept of diminishing returns, which later on the neo-classical economists used for international