From Ricardo to Sraffa: Gold as Monetary Standard in a Classical Theory of Money
Résumé
In this paper we inquire into what could or should be a Classical theory of money and prices sixty years after Sraffa’s Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities’ publication. We take as granted three basic propositions (i) Sraffa’s system of prices is relevant for determining Classical natural prices (ii) a monetary standard (gold) is central to a Classical theory of money (iii) Cantillon-Smith rule is pivotal to Classical market prices determination. We contend that (i) coexistence of a natural price and a legal price of gold is a necessary condition for a Classical theory of money (ii) market price of gold cannot be different from its legal price (no arbitrage), (iii) the regulation of the quantity of money remains an open question