ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the democratic economic formulations for an economic bill of rights are, for the most part, grounded in the theoretical works of Robert Owen, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. The Industrial Revolution that gathered momentum in Europe and the United States during the late eighteenth century created the historical context for the theoretical development of radical political economy. Owen’s political economy was based on three important theses. First, Owen believed that a more just and efficient economy should be based on his experimental model at New Lanark, which he described as an “economy of high wages.” The second tenant on which Owen based his political economy was a belief that an individualistic economy is inequitable, irrational, and antisocial, and that private ownership is an institution whereby one class gains power over the rest in order to gain profits. Third, Owen’s labor theory of value was based on the priority of labor over capital and profit.
