Gold and silver, like other commodities, have an intrinsic value, which is not arbitrary, but is dependent on their scarcity, the quantity of labour bestowed in procuring them, and the value of the capital employed in the mines which produce them.

Shiozawa's result saves Mankiw from his slip. Ricardian equivalence
Another idea associated with Ricardo is Ricardian equivalence an argument suggesting that in some circumstances a government's choice of how to pay for its spending (i. The first chapter serves merely as an introduction to a long book that debates an extended series of comparisons and which contrasts the various points of view while outlining Ricardo's own reasoning.

g. He was often credited with systematizing economics and was one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.