The Macroeconomic Perspectives of David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Stuart Mill

ECON 350 19 November 2012

Abstract
The author surveys three influential economists of the Classical era—Ricardo, Marx, and John Stuart Mill—and introduces the reader to their Macroeconomic perspectives based on some of their more prominent Macroeconomic theories.

David Ricardo
David Ricardo was a Classical Economist who lived from 1772 to 1823. In his professional life he wore many hats: he was a businessman, a financer, a speculator, and a member of Parliament. But what he is most remembered for is the role that he played in the evolution of economic theory, alongside of such other greats as John Stuart Mill and …show more content…

Karl Marx was a staunch Socialist and the vast majority of his contributions to the field of economics revolved around a singular event that he believed would inevitably occur sometime in the future and would bring about the fall of Capitalism, replacing it instead with a Socialist society that would eventually evolve through natural means into a Communist society. Marx saw society as segregated units of distinct classes. In his mind there was a constant struggle going on between these classes as a direct result of one class having dominance over the other. The two classes that he was particularly concerned with were the Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie. The Bourgeoisie were representative of the wealthy Capitalists—this included factory owners, entrepreneurs, and the like. In other words the Bourgeoisie was composed of those individuals who were able to create great wealth for themselves as a direct result of the Capitalist system. Aristocracy and the like were not included as among the Bourgeoisie. The Proletariat on the other hand were those individuals who worked in the factories, et cetera, of the Bourgeoisie. These were the blue collar workers of their time and the lower class members of society. In Marx’s opinion the Bourgeoisie had taken advantage of the Proletariat by making themselves wealthy off of the labor of this oppressed class. Furthermore Marx felt that the base nature of the work