Notes on Ricardo’s theory of value and taxation

Tsoulfidis, Lefteris (2005): Notes on Ricardo’s theory of value and taxation. Published in: Asian African Journal of Economic and Econometrics , Vol. 5, No. 1 (June 2005): pp. 35-47.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold: on the one hand is to discuss Ricardo’s version of the labour theory of value; and on the other hand, is to analyse some crucial aspects of Ricardo’s theory of taxation as an extension and further elaboration of his theory of value. This discussion is illustrated with the use of a formal model based on a generalisation of Ricardo’s numerical examples. The claim that the paper raises is that Ricardo’s analysis of taxation is a kind of a comparative statics exercise, where the real wage, the state of technology and the level of output are taken as givens. Furthermore, it is shown that Ricardo’s claim that money’s role in the presence of taxation of profits is not neutral becomes questionable, when various feedback effects are accounted for.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Classical economists, Taxation, Theory of Value, Distribution
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B51 - Socialist ; Marxian ; Sraffian; H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H22 - Incidence; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B12 - Classical (includes Adam Smith); B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B2 - History of Economic Thought since 1925 > B21 - Microeconomics; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B14 - Socialist ; Marxist; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B16 - Quantitative and Mathematical

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