The book's interpretation brings fresh insights into and new developments on the Ricardian international trade theory by examining the true meaning of the 'four magic numbers'. By putting together theories of comparative advantage and international money, the book attempts to elucidate Ricardo's international trade theory in the real world.

This book also features contributions from the Japanese perspective, and compares Ricardian theories with those of his contemporaries, such as Malthus, Torrens and J. S. Mill. This book will be a valuable reference for researchers and scholars with interests in the history of economic thought and international economics.

Introduction: Ricardo's international trade theory 200 years on (Taichi Tabuchi, Masatomi Fujimoto, and Shigeyoshi Senga)

Part I: Ricardo's 'Four Magic Numbers' and Beyond

1. A Plain Man's Guide to David Ricardo's Principle of Comparative Advantage (Heinz D. Kurz)

2. Ricardo and International Trade Theory (Roy J. Ruffin)

3. David Ricardo's Trade Theory: Anticipations and Later Developments (Andrea Maneschi)

4. Yukizawa's Interpretation of Ricardo's 'Theory of Comparative Costs' (Taichi Tabuchi)

5. The Ricardian System: A Graphical Exposition (Neri Salvadori and Rodolfo Signorino)

Part II: Money and/or International Values

6. A Calm Investigation into Mr Ricardo's Principles of International Trade (Gilbert Faccarello)

7. Money and Ricardo's "Magic Numbers" (Jérôme de Boyer des Roches)

8. Foreign Trade, International Values, and Gains from Trade: Ricardo, Pennington, Whewell and John Stuart Mill (Christian Gehrke)

9. Equilibrium in the International Economy: Ricardo's Specie Flow Mechanism ¿Logic and Development (Shigehiro Naruse)

10. On Ricardo's Two Rectification Problems (Yoshinobu Shiozawa)

Part III: Controversies over Ricardian International Trade Theory and Policy

11. Foreign Trade, Profits, and Growth: A Comparative Study of Ricardo and Malthus (Atsushi Masunaga)

12. J. S. Mill's Idea of International Trade: The Inheritance from Ricardo's Free Trade and Torrens' Reciprocity (Masatomi Fujimoto)

13. Ricardo and the Committee on Agricultural Distress of 1821 (Masaharu Hattori)

Shigeyoshi Senga is Professor Emeritus at Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan.

Masatomi Fujimoto is Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Osaka Gakuin University, Osaka, Japan.

Taichi Tabuchi is Professor at the Faculty of Commerce, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.