Preface

Production of any kind is considered to be the result of three elements - land, labor, and capital - whose product can be regarded as rent, wages, and capital (respectively).

In different "stages of society," the proportions to which each contribute to production will vary. For example, agricultural production depends on the fertility of the soil; the availability of capital and population; and the skill, ingenuity, and instruments employed in production.

It is said that politics approaches the economy of a state, it must first concern itself with the regulation of this distribution, but the proponents of such theories "afford very little satisfactory information" on the matter.

Ricardo makes reference to a number of economists of his time, chiefly Malthus, whose "Inquiry into the Nature of Progress and Rent" presents a sound doctrine of rent, but has "overlooked many important truths" in the inquiry. He expresses the respect to those with whom he disagrees in the following work and the alludes to other writers (chiefly Adam Smith and Jean-Baptiste Say) by whom he has been instructed so as not to seem too arrogant.

(EN: All of this is fairly typical of a writer in the author's time and culture to profess humility and avoid seeing arrogant in his disagreement with respect individuals even in disagreement, so I've skipped much of the detail - it's just groveling.)