In this chapter I propose a reconstruction of Ricardo's treatment of value, distribution and accumulation, from the time of his earliest writings to the period following the publication of his Essay on Profits (1815).

Ricardo's contribution to the ‘Bullion Controversy’ is discussed in the first section, with a view to establishing his early position on matters relevant to this and to subsequent chapters (Ricardo's monetary analysis, as a topic in its own right, is not especially my concern). In the second section I consider the possible origins of Ricardo's new ‘theory’, if indeed it deserves such a grand description, first intimated by him in August 1813, when he suggested an important role for agricultural conditions of production in governing the course of general profitability. I also speculate on the content of this ‘theory’. Then, in the third section, I turn to Ricardo's pre-Essay correspondence. This is the longest section in the chapter, and also the most difficult, which reflects the confusing, not to say confused, nature of Ricardo's writings during a period in which he was struggling to articulate new ideas within an old framework.

The analytical content of the Essay on Profits is discussed in the fourth section, while in the fifth section I return to the pre-Essay writings and offer a reconstruction of Ricardo's more formal analysis at that time. All the evidence cited in favour of this reconstruction, which is merely supplementary to the interpretation developed in the third section of the chapter, is avowedly indirect but, then again, so too was the evidence cited by Sraffa in support of his ‘corn model’ interpretation (which I reject).