THE ORIGINS OF THE PRINCIPLE OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE

The principle of comparative advantage is widely assumed to have been discovered by David Ricardo in 1817. However, some economic historians attribute the authorship to Robert Torrens or James Mill. We come to the conclusion that while Ricardo certainly played an important role, Torrens presented a satisfactory interpretation of the principle two years before him and should be deemed the original author. While there will always remain some controversy about the authorship, it is relatively straightforward to find the direct causes that enabled the discovery. We claim the Torrens-Ricardo principle of comparative advantage was a by-product of Napoleonic wars and the resulting continental blockade. These events led to a great agricultural debate between leading economists of the era and eventually resulted in the discovery of the principle.