 Owen’s economic thought grew out of widespread poverty in Britain in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.His thought was rooted in seventeenth century English "moral economy" ideals of “fair exchange, just price, and the right to charity.” "Utopian socialist” economic thought such as Owen’s was a reaction to the laissez-faire impetus of Malthusian Poor Law reform.Claeys notes that "Owen’s ‘Plan’ began as a grandiose but otherwise not exceptionally unusual workhouse scheme to place the unemployed poor in newly built rural communities."