- Born April 18th, 1772 in London- Third oldest amidst 17 siblings- Came from a Jewish faith household- Began working at the age of 14 in my father's investment company- Studied literature and science- Married Priscilla in 1793, converted to unitarianism- Created my own business company alongside my business of being a stock broker- Have four children named: David, Sarah, Mortimer, Osman Ricardo- Developed an interest in economy in 1799, after reading Adam Smith's book "Wealth of Nations"- Studied economy for 10 years, until 1809- Retired in 1814 from running my own business- At the time, there was great social conflict and political unrest- The Napoleonic wars, and the many years of poor crops ensured that there was almost no food- There were 3 main groups: working class, industrialist class and the aristocratic landlord class- At the time, a bushel of wheat sold for twice the average worker's weekly wage- There was a lot of recession in the economy- There was also a scarcity of grain, which increased demand and therefore also increased prices- Industrial class payed for the production of wheat, but landlords gained the money through rent- I decided to study economy to help better understand and help the situation of our society- Currently work as political economist and also a member of the British parliament