Tooke's approach to explaining prices

This paper examines the method of analysis and theoretical approach Thomas Tooke (1774–1858) employed in his empirical study of English prices. It is shown that Tooke adopted the “long period method” formulated by Adam Smith to analyse a capitalist society. It is shown that like most nineteenth-century classical economists, Tooke adopted a modified version of Adam Smith's “adding-up” approach to normal prices and distribution which incoporated Ricardo's theory of rent. The paper shows that based on this approach, Tooke explained short-run fluctuations in prices be reference to factors that disrupted the adjustment of supply to the “effectual” demand for commodities.