Sraffa’s Ricardo after Fifty Years - A Preliminary Estimate

Abstract

It is the purpose of this paper to put Sraffa's Ricardo (Ricardo, 1951-73) in a historical perspective. After almost fifty years this appears to be timely on two grounds. First, as we shall have occasion to recall below, Sraffa had been singularly enshrined and made into a bloodless entity for a considerable time; only today it becomes possible to revive his image in flesh and blood and it seems proper to do so. Second the Sraffa archives at Trinity College have now been made accessible and it is expected that permission can be granted to make use of the extant documents for the purpose.