Ricardo, David 1772-1823
English political economist

Born in London, he was a Dutch Jew by birth, and converted to Christianity on his marriage to Priscilla Ann Wilkinson, a Quaker, in 1793. In 1799 his interest in political economy was awakened by Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. His pamphlet, The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of Banknotes (1809), was an argument in favour of a metallic basis to currency. In 1817 he published Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, a discussion of value, wages, rent, etc. In 1819 he became Radical MP for Portarlington.

Bibliography: J H Hollander, David Ricardo: A Centenary Estimate (1910)