Robert Torrens (economist)

Robert Torrens (* 1780 in Hervey Hill, Derry, † May 27 1864 in London) was a British officer and economist.

Torrens represented together with David Ricardo, the thesis that the base money supply must be limited. The opposite thesis that the demand for money in an economy would be regulated by itself, on the other hand represented John Fullarton and Thomas Tooke.

Torrens was also known as the creator of the " terms of trade " argument, which states that a country with a significant share of world demand through the collection of duties affect ( a good), world demand, and thus the world price and additional welfare at the expense its trading partners could acquire. Torrens 1844 represented this argument inversely related: The British government under Robert Peel threatened to harm the abolition of the Corn Laws the national welfare of England, while profitable according to the theorem of comparative advantage in the world welfare. Torrens is therefore considered together with John Stuart Mill as the creator of the concept of terms of trade.

His son Robert Richard Torrens 1857 was Premier of South Australia.