Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T12:56:35.860Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Torrens and Malthus’ Challenge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2014

Rogério Arthmar
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examines the arguments of Colonel Robert Torrens against the hypothetical prospect that rising corn prices might result in higher farmers’ profits by reducing the real costs of manufactured articles used in the crop-growing activity. First, it shows how this idea evolved through time in Malthus’ writings on rent. Next, it scrutinizes Torrens’ approach to the subject of value, from its origins to the more elaborate version built up in some of his early inquiries regarding political economy. The outcome of his effort was a simplified image of the mutual interaction among the productive sectors, similar to modern input–output models, composed of an interdependent system with prices and a uniform profit rate determined simultaneously. Finally, some applications for this innovative analytical device are presented, but with an emphasis on the refutation of Malthus’ proposition. The concluding remarks stress Torrens’ ability to devise a proper quantitative answer to the parson’s theoretical challenge despite the scanty technical resources available to classical economists at that time.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 67 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bleaney, Michael. 1976. Underconsumption Theories. A History and Critical Analysis. New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
De Vivo, Giancarlo. 1985. “Robert Torrens and Ricardo’s ‘Corn-Ratio’ Theory of Profits.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 9: 89–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vivo, Giancarlo. 1996. “Ricardo, Torrens and Sraffa: A Summing Up.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 20: 387–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fetter, Frank W. 1962. “Robert Torrens: Colonel of Marines and Political Economist.” Economica 29: 152–156.Google Scholar
Fetter, Frank W. 1990. “New Light on the Military Career of Robert Torrens.” History of Political Economy 22 (3): 545–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hisamatsu, Taro. 2009. “Robert Torrens’ Theory of Profits Reconsidered.” History of Economics Review 49: 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollander, Samuel. 1979. The Economics of David Ricardo. Toronto: The University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Hollander, Samuel. 1995. “Sraffa’s Rational Reconstruction of Ricardo: On Three Contributions to the Cambridge Journal of Economics.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 19: 483–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karayinnis, Anastassios D. 2000. “Robert Torrens on Technological Progress.” History of Economic Ideas 8 (2): 63–94.Google Scholar
Langer, G. F. 1982. “Further Evidence for Sraffa’s Interpretation of Ricardo.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 6: 397–400.Google Scholar
Lopes, Francisco L. 2008. “The Ricardo Puzzle.” History of Political Economy 40 (1): 595–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malthus, Thomas R. [1814] 1815a. Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws. Third edition. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Malthus, Thomas R. 1815b. An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent. London: John Murray.Google Scholar
Malthus, Thomas R. [1820] 2004. Principles of Political Economy. In Sraffa, Piero, ed. The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo. Volume II. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Meenai, Saeed A. 1956. “Robert Torrens, 1780–1864.” Economica 23: 49–61.Google Scholar
O’Brien, Dennis P. 2004. The Classical Economists Revisited. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Peach, Terry. 2001. “Hollander, de Vivo and the ‘Further’ Evidence for the Corn Model Interpretation of Ricardo: A Conspiracy of Silence?” Cambridge Journal of Economics 25: 685–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peach, Terry. 2009. Interpreting Ricardo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Prendergast, Renee. 1986. “Malthus’s Discussion of the Corn Ratio Theory of Profits.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 10: 187–189.Google Scholar
Ricardo, David. [1815] 2004. Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock. In Sraffa, Piero, ed. The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo. Volume IV, pp. 1–41. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Ricardo, David. [1817] 2004. On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. In Sraffa, Piero, ed. The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo. Volume I. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Ricardo, David. 2004. The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo. Edited by Sraffa, Piero. Volumes I–XI. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Robbins, Lionel. 1958. Robert Torrens and the Evolution of Classical Economics. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul. 1978. “The Classical Canonical Model.” Journal of Economic Literature 16 (4): 1415–1434.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1963. History of Economic Analysis. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Sowell, Thomas. 1972. Say’s Law. An Historical Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
St. Clair, Oswald. 1965. A Key to Ricardo. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. 1815. An Essay on the External Corn Trade. First edition. London: J. Hatchard and Son.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. 1816. A Letter to the Right Honorable the Earl of Liverpool on the State of the Agriculture of the United Kingdom. London: J. Hatchard.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. 1820. An Essay on the Influence of the External Corn Trade. Second edition. London: J. Hatchard and Son.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. 1821. An Essay on the Production of Wealth. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. 1826. An Essay on the External Corn Trade. Third edition. London, Longman: Rees, Orme, Brown and Green.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. [1818] 1993a. “Strictures on Mr. Ricardo’s Doctrine Respecting Exchangeable Value.” In Groenewegen, Peter D., ed., The Economists Refuted and Other Early Economic Writings. Fairfield: Augustus M. Kelley, pp. 77–82.Google Scholar
Torrens, Robert. [1819] 1993b. “Mr. Owen’s Plan for Relieving the National Distress.” In Groenewegen, Peter D., ed., The Economists Refuted and Other Early Economic Writings. Fairfield: Augustus M. Kelley, pp. 83–103.Google Scholar