Economists, such as David Ricardo were against the Corn Laws. Ricardo believed that overall, protectionism made corn too expensive for the economy as a whole. He also believed that with the laws, the protection of agriculture was too big. He wrote about these ideas in his work called "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation "from 1817". "Thomas Malthus was in favor of the laws; in his opinion, they helped the agriculture of the country, and would not lead to the country depending on others. 