ABSTRACT
Scholars studying Jean Charles Leonard Sismondi have often insisted on the episodic character of his awareness of the contradictions of the capitalist economic system by trying to explain the presumed “conversion” that happened between the youthful and mature phase of his thought. The critical subtlety of Sismondi’s enquiry is evident when addressing the contradictions of the economic-capitalist system and, in particular, capitalist production based on salaried labor. In particular, observation of the English economic situation, especially in its crisis phases between 1816 and 1818, must have influenced the elaboration of Sismondi’s critical reflection developed in Nouveaux Principes. Sismondi also studied the problems of England’s economic development tied to its social organization. Richesse publique is shattered in the static ownership of the capitalist income and the consequent income of the worker and terminates the meaning of a shared economic interest in an entirety that is distinguishable and shareable on the basis of processes of choice, debate, and negotiation.
