ABSTRACT
In the wage-earner’s lifestyle, which is especially tied to manual work in manufacturing and the service industry, work is regarded as necessity for obtaining the economic means needed to be able to take part in the leisure activities thought to give meaning to life. Ricardo‘s law states that international trade is independent of the principles of the comparative cost of labour. The historical factor interesting in the connection is the development in the international division of labour. The capitalist purchases a temporary disposition over a person’s labour; this labour contains more value than the wages he pays, since it contains surplus labour. In a situation with free movement of capital, goods and labour, areas with low wage costs, all things being equal, will be able to out-compete corresponding goods produced in other areas with higher wage levels. In the wage-earner’s lifestyle, there is normally a sharp differentiation between work and leisure.
