The rate of interest independent of the rate of profit: a review of Matthew Smith's Tooke (2011)

It is particularly fortunate that the publication of a book on the work of Thomas Tooke should have occurred during one of the biggest financial crises in the history of the capitalist system. Matthew Smith’s account of Tooke’s contributions is wide-ranging. Among the many topics analysed in his book, this review aims to discuss in particular Tooke’s view of the connection between the interest rate and the incentive to invest, his notion of the interest rate as a cost of production, and the relationship of this notion with the classical theory of distribution