Labor vs. CapitalIn 1817, the English economist David Ricardo presented his labor theory of value:The value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it will exchange, depends on the relative quantity of labour which is necessary for its production.In other words, the value of an object comes from the amount of labor that went into producing it. In some cases, this insight seems pretty obvious and easy to accept. Take art, for example: an oil painting created over sever...

Labor vs. CapitalIn 1817, the English economist David Ricardo presented his labor theory of value:The value of a commodity, or the quantity of any other commodity for which it will exchange, depends on the relative quantity of labour which is necessary for its production.In other words, the value of an object comes from the amount of labor that went into producing it. In some cases, this insight seems pretty obvious and easy to accept. Take art, for example: an oil painting created over sever...