The Ricardian rent theory in early American economics .. by Turner John Roscoe 1882-

Author:Turner, John Roscoe, 1882- [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Ricardo, David, 1772-1823, Rent. [from old catalog]
Publisher: New York, The New York university press
Published: 1921-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

A dynamic theory of consumption teaches that, as population advances, consumption requires a greater variety and a superior quality of goods. Now, in a more advanced state of civilization, the earth could support more people to the extent that consumption is varied, since a greater variety of margins v/ith limited returns could be attained. But, to the extent that superior quality is demanded, the earth could support fewer people because no limited-returns margin could yield as much food of a superior as of an inferior quality. Turning now to Tucker's concept of consumption, which, as population grows more dense, tends toward a less variety and a cheaper, coarser quality of food, we find that opposite reasoning would apply.

It is debatable under which of these forms of consumption the earth could support the greater number of people. But certainly the greatest number could be supported under a form of consumption which combines the qualities of greatest variety, thus making available various grades of land, and the cheapest quality which would enable each variety of land to yield the maximum nutriment.

The application of this principle to all classes of productive agents can be easily made, but is beyond our present task. The nature of consumption, which includes the standard of tastes must reckon with the kind as well as the variety of consumable goods; then the nature of consumption is but one end of the stick of w^hich the coordination of productive factors to' supply that consumption is the other.

Though recent writers have made much of this law of limited returns, is there anything in it except a modified statement of diminishing returns? It simply places a limit at which, if ever reached, diminishing returns

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