David Ricardo, financier and empirical economist

Historians of economic thought often criticize David Ricardo on the grounds that he lacked factual knowledge of Britain's economy, and that he recommended irresponsible policies in reliance on the axioms of Say's Law and the Quantity Theory of Money. This article establishes that Ricardo was well informed about business conditions in Britain. His livelihood depended on being able to predict, months in advance, the state of financial markets. This, in turn, meant predicting changes in the money supply, the foreign exchange rate, Government expenditures, and general economic activity. The article also illustrates how Ricardo used this same information when assessing Britain's economic state and when making recommendations about the choice of a monetary standard.Ricardo, Empirical Economist, Knowledge,