Editing David Ricardo (section)

===Rent===
{{Main|Law of rent}}
Ricardo contributed to the development of theories of rent, wages, and profits. He defined [[Economic rent|rent]] as "the difference between the produce obtained by the employment of two equal quantities of capital and labour."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Ricardo |first=David |date=1817 |title=On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, by David Ricardo, 1817 |url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/ricardo/tax/ch02.htm |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=www.marxists.org |at=Chapter 2: Rent}}</ref> Ricardo believed that the process of economic development, which increased land use and eventually led to the cultivation of poorer land, principally benefited landowners. According to Ricardo, such premium over "real social value" that is reaped due to ownership constitutes value to an individual but is at best<ref>''On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation'' London: John Murray, Albemarle-Street, by David Ricardo, 1817 (third edition 1821) – Chapter 6, On Profits: paragraph 28, "Thus, taking the former . . ." and paragraph 33, "There can, however...."</ref> a paper monetary return to "society". The portion of such purely individual benefit that accrues to scarce resources Ricardo labels "rent".

In particular, Ricardo postulates that rent is a result of increased populations which results in assets growing scarce and in some cases diminished returns of which were once abundant. Ricardo breaks down this premise by first supposing there are three fields of  land - No. 1, 2, 3, - to yield corn, with an equal employment of capital and labour. Initially land No.1 is cultivated and is very productive as measured through the abundant surplus. Over time this abundant surplus becomes diminished as the result of an increase in population, which subsequently creates an increased demand for food. The less desired land, No.2, must now be cultivated and eventually so must land No.3 and so on and so forth. For Ricardo each new cultivated results in diminished surplus as the quality of land fails to yield the equal of that before it. In light of such diminishing surplus landowners see opportunities to charge rent as a means to compensate for the loss of returns on output.<ref name=":2" />