Ghislain Deleplace is Emeritus Professor of Economics at University Paris 8 at Saint-Denis, France. His fields of research are the history of monetary thought (Steuart, Ricardo, Marx, Keynes, Sraffa), the history of the international monetary system (sixteenth century, nineteenth century), and the Post-Keynesian theory of money.

List of tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Why a book on Ricardo on money?

Revaluation

Rehabilitation

Completeness

Relevance

2. An evolution in Ricardo's theory of money

The relation with the theory of value and distribution

Ricardo's mature theory of money in brief

3. The content of the book: history, theory, policy

Part I. History

Part II. Theory

Part III. Policy

4. Two hundred years after

PART I History

1 The historical context

1.1 The English monetary system at the time of Ricardo

Currency

Banking

1.2 International monetary relations in Europe: London, Paris, Hamburg

1.3 From Hume to the Bullionist Controversy

David Hume and James Steuart

The Bullionist Controversy

A central question: the role of note-issuing in monetary disorder

1.4 The first round of the Bullionist Controversy (1797¿1803)

The search for analytical foundations

Thornton's Paper Credit of Great Britain

Appendix 1: Ricardo on the bullion and foreign exchange markets

1. Ricardo contradicts Bosanquet on the rise of gold on the Continent

2. Ricardo contradicts Vansittart on the state of the exchange with Hamburg in 1760

2 Ricardo's battles on currency and banks

2.1 Ricardo and the Bullion Controversy (1809¿1811)

The second round of the Bullionist Controversy

Ricardo's positions

2.2 Ricardo and the resumption of convertibility (1816¿1823)

The third round of the Bullionist Controversy

Ricardo's two plans

2.3 Conclusion: the legacy of Ricardo's monetary battles

Appendix 2: Attacks and weapons

1. Attacks: critical opinions on Ricardo

2. Weapons: