Note 1177 — Chapter II · : THE THEORY OF RENT AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Such was the argument employed by J. B. Say in the course of a controversy with Ricardo. “It is perfectly obvious that if the needs of society raise the price of corn to such a level as to permit of the cultivation of inferior lands which yield nothing beyond wages for the workmen and profits on the capital, then that demand on the part of society, coupled with the price which it can afford to pay for the corn, allows of a profit on the most fertile or best situated lands.” (Traité, 6th edition, p. 410.) Continuing, he remarks: “David Ricardo in the same chapter clearly shows that the profit from land is not the cause but the effect of the demand for corn, and the reasons which he adduces in support of this view may be turned against him to prove that other items in cost of production, notably the wages of labour, are not the cause but the effect of the current price of goods.” Ricardo himself seemed on the point of being converted to this view. See p. 554, note 2.