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GEORGE E. ECONOMAKIS & DIMITRIS P. SOTIROPOULOS

Ricardo was rather pessimist of the development of technology in the process of capital accumulation. Due to the fact that the dynamic of technology was unable to triumph over land scarcity, landowners claims rendered totally baseless and working class demands rendered simply futile within Ricardo’s theoretical framework. This attitude cannot be easily explained given that he wrote in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. We shall argue that Ricardo’s analytical insights helped the shaping of the political strategy of the industrial capital, providing the adequate theoretical background for the foundation of its political assertions during the first phase of the Industrial Revolution.