On The Principles of Political Economy, and TaxationRicardo, David
General
On The Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation
Ricardo, David
Economics
will be the same. The advantage always resolves itself into that which
M. Say appears to confine to the home trade; in both cases there is no
other gain but that of the value of an _utilite produite_.
CHAPTER XXI.
ON BOUNTIES ON PRODUCTION.
It may not be uninstructive to consider the effects of a bounty on the
_production_ of raw produce and other commodities, with a view to
observe the application of the principles which I have been endeavouring
to establish, with regard to the profits of stock, the annual produce of
the land and labour, and the relative prices of manufactures and raw
produce. In the first place, let us suppose that a tax was imposed on
all commodities, for the purpose of raising a fund to be employed by
Government, in giving a bounty on the _production_ of corn. As no part
of such a tax would be expended by Government, and as all that was
received from one class of the people, would be returned to another, the
nation collectively would neither be richer nor poorer, from such a tax
and bounty. It would be readily allowed, that the tax on commodities by
which the fund was created, would raise the price of the commodities
taxed; all the consumers of those commodities therefore would contribute
towards that fund; in other words, their natural or necessary price
being raised, so would too their market price. But for the same reason
that the natural price of those commodities would be raised, the natural
price of corn would be lowered; before the bounty was paid on
production, the farmers obtained as great a price for their corn as was
necessary to repay them their rent and their expenses, and afford them
the general rate of profits; after the bounty, they would receive more
than that rate, unless the price of corn fell by a sum at least equal to
the bounty. The effect then of the tax and bounty, would be to raise the
price of commodities in a degree equal to the tax levied on them, and to
lower the price of corn by a sum equal to the bounty paid. It will be
observed too, that no permanent alteration could be made in the
distribution of capital between agriculture and manufactures, because as
there would be no alteration, either in the amount of capital or
population, there would be precisely the same demand for bread and
manufactures. The profits of the farmer would be no higher than the
general level, after the fall in the price of corn; nor would the
profits of the manufacturer be lower after the rise of manufactured
goods; the bounty then would not occasion any more capital to be
employed on the land in the production of corn, nor any less in the
manufacture of goods. But how would the interest of the landlord be
affected? On the same principles that a tax on raw produce would lower
the corn rent of land, leaving the money rent unaltered, a bounty on
production, which is directly the contrary of a tax, would raise corn
rent, leaving the money rent unaltered.[42] With the same money rent the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account