Af: Peter Larsen
David Ricardo (1772-1823) var en engelsk økonom, der bl.a. interesserede sig for international handel. Han mente at hvis handelen var fri, altså uden told, vil kapital og arbejdskraft i hvert land blive anvendt der, hvor det er mest givtigt. At udnytte landets individuelle fordele vil hænge smukt sammen med det fælles bedste for ’the universal society of nations throughout the civilized world.’
Dette princip gør, ifølge Ricardo, at vin skal laves i Frankrig og Portugal, at korn skal dyrkes i Amerika og Polen, og at maskiner og andre varer skal fremstilles i England. Det skrev han om I sin bog ’On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation’ der blev udgivet i 1817.
David Ricardo om vin og klæde i Portugal og England
If Portugal had no commercial connexion with other countries, instead of employing a great part of her capital and industry in the production of wines, with which she purchases for her own use the cloth and hardware of other countries, she would be obliged to devote a part of that capital to the manufacture of those commodities, which she would thus obtain probably inferior in quality as well as quantity.
The quantity of wine which she shall give in exchange for the cloth of England, is not determined by the respective quantities of labour devoted to the production of each, as it would be, if both commodities were manufactured in England, or both in Portugal.
England may be so circumstanced, that to produce the cloth may require the labour of 100 men for one year; and if she attempted to make the wine, it might require the labour of 120 men for the same time. England would therefore find it her interest to import wine, and to purchase it by the exportation of cloth.
To produce the wine in Portugal, might require only the labour of 80 men for one year, and to produce the cloth in the same country, might require the labour of 90 men for the same time. It would therefore be advantageous for her to export wine in exchange for cloth. This exchange might even take place, notwithstanding that the commodity imported by Portugal could be produced there with less labour than in England. Though she could make the cloth with the labour of 90 men, she would import it from a country where it required the labour of 100 men to produce it, because it would be advantageous to her rather to employ her capital in the production of wine, for which she would obtain more cloth from England, than she could produce by diverting a portion of her capital from the cultivation of vines to the manufacture of cloth.
David Ricardo siger her, at hvis man ikke har handel mellem lande, må det enkelte land fremstille alt selv – og må dermed acceptere både færre varer og dårligere varer. Som eksempel ser han på produktion af vin og klæde i Portugal og England. Vi forestiller os at der i England skal 120 personer til at producere 100 enheder vin og 100 personer til at producere 100 enheder klæde, mens der i Portugal skal 80 personer til at producere 100 enheder vin og 90 personer til at producere 100 enheder klæde. Umiddelbart ser det ud til at det kan svare sig for Portugal at producere det hele selv.
| England | Portugal | |||
| Arbejdskraft | Enheder | Arbejdskraft | Enheder | |
| Vin | 120 | 100 | 80 | 100 |
| Klæde | 100 | 100 | 90 | 100 |
| Samlet produktion | 200 | 200 | ||
| Vin | 170 | 212,5 | ||
| Klæde | 220 | 220 | ||
| Samlet produktion | 220 | 212,5 |
Men sætter vi hele arbejdskraften til at producere klæde i England, og hele arbejdskraften til at producere vin i Portugal får vi faktisk samlet mere klæde og mere vin ud af det.
I England fremstiller 100 personer 100 enheder klæde. 220 personer kan så fremstille 100/100*220=220 enheder klæde.
I Portugal fremstiller 80 personer 100 enheder vin. 170 personer kan så fremstille 100/80*170=212,5 enheder vin.
England og Portugal kan så bytte 100 enheder klæde for 100 enheder vin hos hinanden, og oven i købet hver have et overskud!
Selvom Portugal har en absolut fordel i fremstilling af både vin og klæde i forhold til England kan det altså svare sig at landet specialiserer sig i det produkt, hvor det er relativt bedst – hvor landet har en komparativ fordel.
Hvilket problem ville Ricardo løse?
Hvad var Ricardo’s løsning?
Hvilke fordele er der ved løsningen? Ulemper?
Citatet er fra ‘On the Principles..’ som du kan finde her: https://www.econlib.org/library/Ricardo/ricP.html?chapter_num=8#book-reader