ABSTRACT
David Ricardo is considered by many as the founder of economics as a rigorous science involving mathematical precision. A school of "neo-Ricardian" socialists has developed under the influence of Piero Sraffa, Ricardo's official biographer. Modern economists, notably Harvard's Robert J. Barro, have also popularized the "Ricardian equivalence theorem," the argument that hidden trade-offs abound in policy changes. Ricardo made most of his money early on as an arbitrager of government debt. Ricardo developed the law in 1815 in his Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock. Critics call the Ricardian equivalence theorem a classic example of fairy tale theorizing, devoid of relevance and perhaps even nutty. Then, years later, the mature Blaug changed his mind, blaming Ricardo for taking economics down a dangerous road of "pessimistic" models and criticizing him for his "lugubrious and obscure" attempt to find an invariable measure of value.
