Defense versus Opulence?An Appraisal ofthe Malthus-Ricardo 1815Controversy on the Corn Laws

This article proposes a rational reconstruction of the arguments of Malthusand Ricardo in their 1815 essays, Grounds of an Opinion and AnEssay on Profits, whereby a policy of free corn trade was repudiated andendorsed, respectively. Malthus envisaged defense and (trade-induced)opulence as two mutually alternative options and, if required to make achoice, he had no hesitation in choosing the former. By contrast, Ricardoexcluded any such trade-off, arguing that even in the case of war or poordomestic harvest, foreign agricultural countries would be seriously damagedif they opted for restrictions on their corn exports to Great Britain.