There are competing stories as to how Ricardo became so rich on the Battle of Waterloo. The urban myth has it that he was able to exploit other peoples' uncertainty over who had won the battle. He then bought up all the cheap bonds, knowing they would rebound very quickly when the actual news about the Duke of Wellington's victory came out. But in fact after 1815 he got richer rather than rich per se; he was already substantially rich from bidding successfully for war loans. In Bordeaux-Siedt in Parliament, Rottenborough in Ireland, what did you want to do that for? Primarilyso that he could propound what he described as the new science of political economy
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most influential economists from the age of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. Ricardo (1772 -1823) reputedly made his fortune at the Battle of Waterloo, and he made his lasting impact with his ideas on free trade. At a time when nations preferred to be self-sufficient, to produce all their own food and manufacture their own goods, and to find markets for export rather than import, Ricardo argued for free trade even with rivals for the benefit of all. He contended that existing economic policy unduly favoured landlords above all others and needed to change, and that nations would be less likely to go to war with their trading partners if they were more reliant on each other. For the last two hundred years, Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative Advantage in support of free trade has been developed and reinterpreted by generations of economists across the political spectrum.
With
Matthew Watson
Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick
Helen Paul
Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton
And
Richard Whatmore
Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews and Co-Director of the St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History
Producer: Simon Tillotson