Ricardo and Haberler: an essay on the evolution of the economic thought based on the four magic numbers in the international trade theory

Flavia Poinsot

doi:10.52292/j.estudecon.2021.2657

Authors

Flavia Poinsot Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0010-9965

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52292/j.estudecon.2021.2657

Keywords:

David Ricardo, Gottfried Haberler, Austrian school of thought, Theory of Value, Theory of Comparative Advantage, Epistemology

Abstract

The Ricardian comparative advantage is one key cornerstone in the international trade theory. There is no shortage of textbooks supposing that Ricardo used solely labour as a factor of production. This approach originates with Haberler in the 1930s, who wrote that Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage is robust, but not the labor-cost doctrine, which, Haberler assumed, Ricardo applied. This paper summarizes why Haberler’s perspective emerged, essaying an explanation of his way of interpreting Ricardo. To do this, we considered the new research on Ricardo, whose facets to be known seem to renew over time and never end.

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