David Ricardo：On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Excerpt 202

A tax, however, on raw produce, and on the necessaries of the labourer, would have another effect--it would raise wages. From the effect of the principle of population on the increase of mankind, wages of the lowest kind never continue much above that rate which nature and habit demand for the support of the labourers. This class is never able to bear any considerable portion of taxation; and, consequently, if they had to pay 8_s._ per quarter in addition for wheat, and in some smaller proportion for other necessaries, they would not be able to subsist on the same wages as before, and to keep up the race of labourers. Wages would inevitably and necessarily rise; and in proportion as they rose, profits would fall. Government would receive a tax of 8_s._ per quarter on all the corn consumed in the country, a part of which would be paid directly by the consumers of corn; the other part would be paid indirectly by those who employed labour, and would affect profits in the same manner as if wages had been raised from the increased demand for labour compared with the supply, or from an increasing difficulty of obtaining the food and necessaries required by the labourer.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33310
Locator：Excerpt 202 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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