Did Robert Torrens discover comparative advantage before David Ricardo?
This video examines Robert Torrens' seminal work, The Budget, to reframe the history of economic thought. While David Ricardo is often credited with the theory of comparative advantage, Torrens developed the concept nearly twenty years earlier, alongside foundational ideas on debt-deflation and aggregate demand.
Robert Torrens was a vocal proponent of free trade who contributed significantly to economic theory beyond his early discovery of comparative advantage. His work bridged the gap between trade theory and aggregate demand, providing a nuanced perspective on how economic systems function.
The video highlights Torrens' role as an opponent of deflation and his early formulation of the debt-deflation theory, which explains how economic downturns can be exacerbated by debt cycles. By revisiting his writing in The Budget, the video offers a clearer view of the intellectual origins of modern trade and macroeconomic concepts.
