Malthus and the Corn Law:Ricardo and his Circle

Abstract

In April of 1812, David Ricardo was forty. He was passing through the Mid-Life Transition into middle adulthood, a stage of life when there is a polarity between generativity and stagnation (Erikson 1963, pp. 266-268; Erikson 1968, pp. 138-139). It is a period when a man begins to come to terms with the actualities of his approaching death, and draws upon his own internal resources to generate whatever productivity his capabilities may permit. If he is successful in making the transition, a man may well experience his greatest achievements in his forties. In middle adulthood a man also demonstrates the degree of acceptance of the responsibilities for his own adolescent children and for society in general. The stronger the pull in the direction of the pole of generativity, the greater the individual’s demonstration of his “caring” about the individuals and social institutions of the culture and society which surround him.