ABSTRACT
The land tax is designed to let the exchequer share in the income of the single proprietor, and it affects usually nobody but him. Based on a general assessment of lands, and sometimes on a land survey, it obliges every farmer to advance, in the name of his landlord, a proportional share of the net income. The heavier the land tax, the more it will bring disorder to markets and all of the rural economy, by forcing the cultivator, or the landlord, to sell at any price in order to raise cash. The reason for the difference of views must be sought in different conceptions of markets and time. Ricardo assumes at all times that the market will liquefy capital for the individual at once, transferring resources from surplus to deficiency industries.
