[sarcasm]

Thoughts?

[A. Pole]

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/ricardo-wages.htmlDavid Ricardo: The Iron Law of Wages
[sarcasm:]Thoughts?

(His most well-known argument was that wages "naturally" tended towards a minimum level corresponding to the subsistence needs of the workers. The attraction of this idea for factory owners is evident. It also influenced Marx in his early pessimistic views about the possibility of workers benefiting from capitalism.)

In the ideal free market yes, the wages would become a commodity at the lowest possible level. But because the owning class does not have perfect domination and there are religious/moral/political constraints like the Church, the threat of revolution or trade unions, the actual society tends to differ from Ricardo/Marx vision. (The Soviet/Fascist threat and New Deal combined with the Christian influence made USA working class the most prosperous in history.)

But free market fanatics work hard on making Ricardo and Marx right. "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly." (Prov:26:11)