Text 7. DAVID RICARDO (1772-1823).

The adjective. Degrees of Comparison.

Dialogue 2.

Text 7.

DAVID RICARDO (1772-1823)

Classical Champion of Free Trade

David Ricardo is one of history’s most influential economists.

Born in England, Richard made a fortune on the London Stock Exchange. This wealth gave him the time to write and to serve in parliament’s House of Commons. His most famous work, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817), marked him as the greatest spokesman for classical economies since Adam Smith.

Ricardo is especially famous in international economics for demonstrating the advantages of free trade. Free trade is a policy in which tariffs and other barriers to trade between nations are removed. To prove his point, Ricardo developed a concept we now call the principle of comparative advantage. Comparative advantage enabled him to demonstrate that one nation might profitably import goods from another even though the importing country could produce that item for less than the exporter.

Richard’s explanation of comparative advantage went as follow:

Portugal and England, both of whom produce wine and cloth, are considering the advantages of exchanging those products with one another.

Let’s assume that:

● x barriers of wine are equal to (and therefore trade evenly for) y yards of cloth.

● In Portugal 80 workers can produce x barriers of wine in a year. It takes 120 English workers to produce that many barrels.

● 90 Portuguese workers can produce y yards of cloth in a year. It takes 100 English workers to produce y yards of cloth.

We can see, Ricardo continued, that even though Portugal can produce both wine and cloth more efficiently than England, it pays them to specialize in the production of wine and import English cloth. This is so because by trading with England, Portugal can obtain as much cloth for 80 worker-years as it would take 90 worker-years to produce themselves.

England will also benefit. By specializing in cloth, it will be able to obtain wine in exchange for 100 worker-years of labor rather than 120.

As a member of parliament, Richard pressed the government to abandon its traditional policy of protection. Though he did not live to achieve that goal, his efforts bore fruit in the 1840s when England became the first industrial power to adopt a policy of free trade. There followed 70 years of economic growth during which the nation became the world’s wealthiest industrial power.

The adjective.

Degrees of Comparison.

Положительная степень	Сравнительная степень	Превосходная степень
young old big happy difficult beautiful	younger older bigger happier more difficult more beautiful	the youngest the oldest the biggest the happiest the most difficult the most beautiful

Некоторые прилагательные образуют сравнительную и превосходную степени не по правилам:

Положительная степень	Сравнительная степень	Превосходная степень
good bad little many	better worse less more	the best the worst the least the most

· high – higher – the highest

· interesting – more interesting – the most interesting

· early – earlier – the earliest

· easily – more easily – the most easily

· good- better – the best

· well – better – the best

Exercise 1.

Form the following adjectives in the Comparative and the Superlative Degree:

Small, long, clean, large, dark, light, rich, poor, big, quick, show, sharp, deep, high, strong, near, cheap, thin, thick, interesting, famous, easy, important, beautiful, weak, difficult, comfortable, early, happy, pale, late, lazy, expensive, sad, practical, pretty, full, bright, dirty, fresh, dangerous, nice, useful, talkative, progressive, bad, good, fat, much, wet, powerful, funny, little, far, many.

Exercise 2.

Translate into Russian language:

A higher price, a lower price, a longer pencil, a shorter pencil, a more expensive overcoat, a cheaper overcoat, a colder day, a warmer day, a kinder man, a lighter room, a darker room, a prettier girl, a smaller garden, a larger garden, fresher air, fatter meat, a worse dress, a better dress.

Exercise3.

Form the degrees of comparison of the following adjectives and adverbs.

Small, full, comfortable, old, beautiful, good, big, difficult, easy, short, long, famous, bad, rich, large, progressive, high, many, much, far, little, late, early, fast, slowly, well, badly.

Exercise4.