John Barton (11 June 1789 – 10 March 1852) was an English economist and botanist.
He concerned himself mainly with statistical evidence, seldom venturing into the realm of pure theory.
"We shall regard the benificent principle of legislative relief, when divested of its incidental vices, as a most useful auxiliary to our endeavors for raising the condition of the labouring classes," he wrote.
His publication Observations on the Circumstances which Influence the Condition of the Labouring Classes of Society is credited with changing the opinion of David Ricardo with regard to the effect of new machinery on wages, unemployment, and national income; the chapter On Machinery, which Ricardo added to the second edition of Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, was the result of Barton's influence.
[4][5] Barton was one of the founders of Birkbeck College, then called the London Mechanics' Institution.