Orthodoxversusunorthodox views on Ricardo’s theory of money

The orthodox view on Ricardo’s monetary theory is that it inconsistently mixes a commodity-theory of money and a quantity-theory of money. One aim of the paper is at discarding this view and at suggesting another, based on Ricardo’s distinction between a position in which money “conforms” to the standard and positions in which money depreciates or appreciates because its quantity is inadequate. The paper also shows that, in spite of differences on particular points, the basic aspects of this approach are shared by other scholars, so that one may speak of an unorthodox view on Ricardo’s theory of money.