ABSTRACT
The aim of the Ricardian theory of rent is clearly announced in the first paragraph of his chapter on rent: It remains, however, to be considered, whether the appropriation of land and the consequent creation of rent, will occasion any variation in the relative value of commodities independently of the quantity of labour necessary to production. The way Ricardo defines rent already indicates the result of his argument. If ‘rent is that portion of the produce of the earth which is paid to the landlord for the use of the original and indestructible powers of the soil,’ it is a payment for fertility only. Modern economic analysis has merely enlarged the concept of rent to include any excess over and above the minimum-of-supply price of any factor units. The main difference, however, between the Ricardian and the modern concept of rent is the formulation.
