ABSTRACT
When Thomas Robert Malthus published the first edition of his Principles of Political Economy Considered with a View to their Practical Application (1820; henceforth Principles), he did not devote any specific chapter, or even section, to the subjects of taxation and public debt, though he occasionally referred to these issues. Ricardo, who had already published Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation (1817), was disappointed to learn that Malthus’s Principles would include no independent chapter concerning taxation. In November 1819, Ricardo wrote to Malthus as follows:
I am glad to hear that your book will be so soon in the press, but I regret that the most important part of the conclusions from the principles which you endeavour to elucidate, will not be included in it, I mean taxation. . . . As soon as you have launched your present work, I hope you will immediately prepare to give us your thoughts on a subject in which are all practically interested.
