The Economics of John Stuart Mill Volume I, Theory and MethodStudies in Classical Political Economy III
Publisher: University of Toronto Press and Blackwell
Date: 1985
Pages: 482 Abraham Hirsch. Review in Kyklos 1986, pp. 621-3
On the whole, this work is an exceedingly impressive one, even more than the author’s previous volumes on Smith and Ricardo. In this work the author faces a much greater challenge than he did in the others and he shows that he is very much up to it. A. W. Coates. Review Article in The Manchester School, Sept. 1987, pp. 310-16
The reviewer of these volumes faces a daunting task, not simply because of their immense size but also because they cannot adequately be considered in isolation. Together with Professor Hollander’s earlier studies … they constitute a sustained campaign to establish the validity of a singular unified interpretation of the central tradition of nineteenth-century British economic thought. Moreover, if Hollander’s main thesis is correct, it has direct implications for our understanding of orthodox (or mainstream) twentieth-century economics….
Hollander’s Mill is a work of extraordinary scholarly dedication, stamina, and depth…. It is … likely to exert its influence, whatever that may prove to be, only slowly, and initially within a limited circle of specialists. It is certainly not a study to be evaluated on the basis of or two careful readings: the familiar clich? that even a lengthy review is inadequate for the purpose is in this instance a serious understatement. Like the massively ambitious project of which it forms an integral part, Hollander’s Mill will leave a permanent imprint on the history of economics. |