# David Ricardo — Progress and Poverty character guide > David Ricardo in Progress and Poverty by Henry George. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Ricardo, Ricardo and McCulloch, Mr. Ricardo **First appearance:** 0008-book-i-wages-and-capital ## Snapshot The classical economist whose rent theory George adopts, extends, and turns into a weapon against the very system Ricardo helped justify. ## Who they are Ricardo is the thinker George engages most intimately, accepting the law of rent but insisting its full scope has never been appreciated—that it contains, as corollaries, the laws of wages and interest. The tension is that Ricardo's own logic, pushed further, shows every laborsaving invention tends to raise rent and force down the margin of cultivation, enriching landowners at labor's expense. Ricardo matters because his theory, radicalized, becomes the engine of George's entire argument about why progress breeds poverty. ## Relationships ### [Adam Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/adam_smith) _professional_ Smith and Ricardo are linked as foundational classical economists, with Ricardo building upon and sometimes revising Smith's labor theory of value. ### [John Stuart Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/john_stuart_mill) _professional_ Ricardo and Mill are connected as successive pillars of classical economics, with Mill expanding and refining Ricardo's theories. ### [Thomas Malthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/thomas_malthus) _friendship_ Ricardo and Malthus were close personal friends and frequent correspondents, despite their significant economic disagreements. ### [Thomas Malthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/thomas_malthus) _friendship_ Ricardo and Malthus were close personal friends and frequent correspondents, despite their significant economic disagreements. ### [Adam Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/characters/adam_smith) _professional_ Smith and Ricardo are linked as foundational classical economists, with Ricardo building upon and sometimes revising Smith's labor theory of value. ## In the story ### [Preface to the Fourth Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/preface-to-the-fourth-edition) Referenced as a key figure in the classical school whose law of rent George builds upon. ### [Book I: Wages and Capital](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-i-wages-and-capital) Ricardo's theories on distribution and rent are implicitly engaged in the discussion of wages and capital. ### [II: The Meaning of the Terms](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/ii-the-meaning-of-the-terms) His definition of capital is discussed and compared with others. ### [Book III: The Laws of Distribution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-iii-the-laws-of-distribution) Ricardo's law of rent is central to the analysis of distribution. ### [II: Rent and the Law of Rent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/ii-rent-and-the-law-of-rent) Recognized for first prominently bringing the law of rent into notice, though not the first to announce it. ### [VI: Wages and the Law of Wages](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/vi-wages-and-the-law-of-wages) Referenced for his law of rent, of which the law of wages is a corollary. ### [VII: The Correlation and Coordination of These Laws](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/vii-the-correlation-and-coordination-of-these-laws) The law of rent, accepted since Ricardo's time, is foundational to the chapter's argument. ### [Book IV: Effect of Material Progress Upon the Distribution of Wealth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-iv-effect-of-material-progress-upon-the-distribution-of-wealth) Referenced for his theory of rent and its implications for distribution. ### [The Dynamics of the Problem Yet to Seek](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-the-dynamics-of-the-problem-yet-to-seek) Cited for his theory that rent advances due to population increase and extension to inferior lands. ### [II: The Effect of Increase of Population Upon the Distribution of Wealth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/ii-the-effect-of-increase-of-population-upon-the-distribution-of-wealth) His theory of rent is discussed and critiqued in relation to population growth and the margin of cultivation. ### [Book V: The Problem Solved](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-v-the-problem-solved) Ricardo's law of rent is foundational to the analysis, showing how rent absorbs the fruits of progress. ### [Book VI: The Remedy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-vi-the-remedy) Ricardo's law of rent is referenced as the basis for understanding how rent arises and how its appropriation can solve the distribution problem. ### [Insufficiency of Remedies Currently Advocated](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-insufficiency-of-remedies-currently-advocated) Implied through the discussion of rent and distribution of wealth, though not directly named in the excerpts. ### [III: From Combinations of Workmen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iii-from-combinations-of-workmen) Implicitly referenced through the discussion of rent and distribution, though not named directly in the excerpt. ### [Book VIII: Application of the Remedy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/book-viii-application-of-the-remedy) Ricardo's law of rent is referenced as the foundation for the remedy. ### [Endorsements and Objections](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iv-endorsements-and-objections) Quoted as stating that a tax on rent falls wholly on landlords and cannot be shifted. ### [Of the Effect Upon Individuals and Classes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/iii-of-the-effect-upon-individuals-and-classes) Referenced implicitly through the concept of rent as the cause of poverty. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/endnotes) Referenced for his law of rent and cited in endnotes regarding land cultivation and economic principles. ## 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