§4.3古典经济学—李嘉图DavidRicardo1章节.pptVIP

David Ricardo Articulated and rigorously formulated “Classical economics” 古典经济学的集大成者 Personal friend of Malthus, although they disagreed about much of economics He did incorporate some of Malthus’ ideas Elected to Parliament in 1819 Friend of John Stuart Mill Framework of Analysis What are the questions that David Ricardo is asking? What determines the distribution of income between workers, landlords and capitalists? What determines wages, rent and profit? More specifically, what determines changes in relative factor prices over time? Or, what determines changes in the distribution of income over time? Essence of Ricardo’s Model Per capita wages remain at subsistence level in the long run because of wages fund doctrine 工资基金论 工资基金理论的代表人物是英国古典经济学家约翰·穆勒（John S·Mill,1806-1873）。 工资基金理论是指工人的工资受人口规律支配，工人的工资水平和工人的生活状况就是随工人人口的增减而变动，而周而复始的反复下去。 Wages fund doctrine – wage is equal to wages fund/labor force Essence of Ricardo’s Model Landlords contribute nothing to the economy – they receive rent simply by holding land, which was fixed in supply.? They only consume, not save. The profits of capitalists are the only source of investment (capital accumulation) Over time, the distribution of income will favor landlords, because of the declining rate of profit Framework of Analysis What are Ricardo’s assumptions? Labor cost theory – changes in relative prices over time are explained by changes in labor cost measured in hours Neutral Money – Changes in the money supply do not cause changes in relative prices Framework of Analysis What are Ricardo’s assumptions? Fixed coefficients of production – fixed capital/labor ratio for each production process, does not change as level of output changes Constant returns to scale (规模收益不变) in manufacturing – horizontal supply curve, Marginal Cost is constant Framework of Analysis What are Ricardo’s assumptions? Diminishing returns to scale （规模收益递减）in agriculture – upward sloping supply curve, MC increases Full employment – flexible wages ens