David Ricardo：On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Excerpt 325

I cannot, however, but remark that, though Adam Smith's general doctrines correspond with this which I have just quoted, yet in one part of his work he appears to have given a correct account of the nature of value. "The proportion between the value of gold and silver, and that of goods of any other kind, _depends in all cases_," he says, "_upon the proportion between the quantity of labour which is necessary in order to bring a certain quantity of gold and silver to market, and that which is necessary to bring thither a certain quantity of any other sort of goods_." Does he not here fully acknowledge that if any increase takes place in the quantity of labour, required to bring one sort of goods to market, whilst no such increase takes place in bringing another sort thither, those goods will rise in relative value. If no more labour be required to bring cloth and gold to market, they will not vary in relative value, but if more labour be required to bring corn and shoes to market, will not corn and shoes rise in value relatively to cloth, and money made of gold?

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33310
Locator：Excerpt 325 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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