ABSTRACT
It has already been noted, in the discussion of McCulloch's treatment of international trade, that an underlying conception of the growth process was basic to his view of the economic system. As a writer in the tradition of Smith, McCulloch was concerned to formulate a general picture of the requirements and conditions for growth rather than a specific model on the Ricardian pattern. The nature of that picture will now be examined. It will be found to contain a blend, fairly typical for McCulloch, of Ricardian and Smithian elements, with the former a good deal more important than in his writings on other topics, although ultimately rejected. The basic process of growth is seen largely in terms of Smith's apparatus;^ but on to his are grafted specific Ricardian features,2 notably the explanation of the declining rate of profit, although McCulloch in the end abandoned this and avoided utilizing it as a major element in the case against the Corn Laws.
