Torrens, Robert (1780–1864)

Abstract

Torrens, if not in the top rank of the classical economists, or in the class for example of Ricardo, Senior or John Stuart Mill, certainly was of the second rank and the equal of, or even above, James Mill or McCulloch in terms of originality, theoretical reasoning and the range of economic topics that he considered. His work was almost completely neglected in the years after his death in 1864 and his re-emergence to his rightful place as an important member of the Classical School was initially due to Seligman in his famous article ‘On Some Neglected British Economists’ (1903) and later to the definitive study by Lionel Robbins (1958). In recent years Torrens has also come to the fore again because of the debates surrounding the Sraffa interpretation of Ricardo.