John Stuart Mill: Political Economist is a revised version of the part of Samuel Hollander's The Economics of John Stuart Mill (1985) treating the theory of economic policy. In this book, Professor Hollander offers a critical yet sympathetic analysis of Mill's quest to accomplish thorough reform of capitalism in the interest of distributive justice while protecting the security of property and contemplating the potential evolution of capitalism into cooperative organization. Part I of the book serves as an introduction to the investigation of Mill's theory of economic policy; Parts II and III include Mill's primary policy recommendations; while Part IV adds a substantial "Overview and Evaluation" reviewing the author's main conclusions. A major concern is Mill's perception of the composition of the "greatest number" whose interests are to be considered by policy-makers; here arises his attitude towards British Imperialism. The author then undertakes thematic comparisons between the positions of Mill and those of Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Marx and Bernstein; and closes with a rejection of the celebrated criticism of Mill's "liberalism" by Friedrich Hayek.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 10: The Intellectual Context I: Thematic Comparisons (247 KB)
Contents:
- Prolegomena:
- Economic Theory and Policy
- The 'Greatest Happiness' Principle
- Social Organization:
- Public Policy:
- The Market and the State
- Welfare
- Property Rights, Land Reform, and Public Finance
- Stabilization
- Overview and Evaluation:
- The Utilitarian Maximand I: Value Judgments
- The Utilitarian Maximand II: On Imperialism and Related Issues
- The Intellectual Context I: Thematic Comparisons
- The Intellectual Context II: Hayek and Mill
- Appendices:
- An Exercise in Deductive Method: Agricultural Protection
- Administrative Recommendations: Public Health and Poor Relief
- On the Education Act 1870: The Denominational Problem
- Hayekian Interventionism Elaborated and Mill Parallels
Readership: Academics and advanced students in history of economics, history of political thought, political economy, political theory, moral and political philosophy, and policy studies.
“The present volume constitutes a significant revision and recasting of the second volume of Professor Hollander's magisterial The Economics of John Stuart Mill, originally published in 1985. Incorporating the latest scholarship as well as his own considered views of Mill, Hollander has produced another major contribution to the history of classical economics. His characteristic method of careful and thorough textual exegesis supports a nuanced and fair assessment of Mill's normative thinking in light of multiple interpretive challenges. As such this is a most welcome and important contribution to the perennially fascinating study of J S Mill.”
Professor Jeffrey T Young
St. Lawrence University, New York
“Samuel Hollander is one of the most knowledgeable scholars of classical economics in the world today. In this volume he revisits John Stuart Mill's political economy, offering a newly reintegrated approach to Mill's broad agenda of economic and social reform. With a masterful appreciation of Mill's theoretical and philosophical roots, Hollander draws a compelling picture of a Mill too honest to soften his critique of the British economy of his day even as he maintained his commitment to liberty and faith in competition. Hollander caries his theme across a range of practical policy questions and even to the problem of imperialism, where Mill has not infrequently been accused of hypocrisy. The volume ends with two fine chapters that only Hollander could write, the first on Mill's relation to the classical economists from Smith through Marx, and the second a most telling critique of Hayek's ambivalent relation with Mill. This is a book not only for scholars, but also for politicians, advisors and citizens interested in what it means to make policy out of economics.”
Professor Joseph Persky
University of Illinois at Chicago
“This wonderful book is vintage Hollander - immensely learned, deeply insightful, and eminently readable.”
Professor Andrew Farrant
Dickinson College, Pennsylvania
“No one has done so much as Samuel Hollander to enhance our understanding and deepen our appreciation of the richness and enduring relevance of J S Mill's economic thought. Professor Hollander, a towering presence among those engaged in studying the history and legacy of classical political economy, here revisits the character and significance of Mill's position on fundamental issues of economic policy. He does so in light of the large store of important commentary on Mill accrued since the publication thirty years ago of Professor Hollander's monumental The Economics of John Stuart Mill. This material he treats with an exemplary courtesy and fair-mindedness. To his reconsideration of Mill's policy analyses and prescriptions Professor Hollander brings a tireless and penetrating intellect that executes a formidably thorough inquiry into all aspects of Millian economic thought in its bearing on problems of policy. Informed throughout by a massive learning and profound scholarship, John Stuart Mill: Political Economist will be welcomed as the crowning achievement of Professor Hollander's decades-long encounter with the economic thought of J S Mill.”
Professor Bruce Kinzer
Kenyon College, Ohio
“This compelling, exhaustive account guides us through Mill's collected writings as well as an extensive secondary literature in providing a brief but penetrating guide to the policy-oriented elements of Mill's economic ideas. Hollander aims to restore Mill's "Principles" to the center of our interpretation of his oeuvre, and to reposition Mill in light of the other leading contributors to political economy of his epoch. The best available introduction to the subject, this book will be welcomed by readers across the humanities and social sciences.”
Professor Greg Claeys
University of London
“Three decades ago, as a grad' student, I read Samuel Hollander's magisterial two volume study of J S Mill as an economist. As I am not an academic economist I was especially drawn to the second volume which I thought then was one of the best and most insightful accounts of Mill's political and moral theory. The publication of a significantly revised version of that text is therefore something for the scholarly community to welcome. But this is no mere reissue, Hollander has up-dated and restructured his argument to present the substance as a significant new book in its own right. We see that Hollander's insights and incisive scholarly judgments are merely not diminished but are enhanced by his mastery of the detail and the scholarship. He remains one of the giants of Mill studies alongside his own hero John Robson. This book is insightful, authoritative and important. Jaded scholars of J S Mill will be refreshed by this book and all serious students of Mill and of nineteenth and twentieth century British history and political, social and economic thought should relish this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
Professor Paul Kelly
London School of Economics and Political Science
Samuel Hollander is University Professor Emeritus in Economics at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he taught from 1963–1998. He is the author of studies of the economics of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Robert Malthus, Jean-Baptiste Say, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Economics Association. He was a Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France (CNRS), 1999–2000. Since 2000 he has been affiliated with the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Author's website: www.samuel-hollander.com
