In this month's Liberty Matters online discussion we reassess the
economic ideas of John Stuart Mill as found in his classic work Principles
of Political Economy (1st ed. 1848, 7th ed. 1871) and other writings.
In the Lead Essay by Steven Kates of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
it is argued that in the light of the evident failures of Keynesian economics
to solve the problems of the boom and bust cycle, and that of ongoing high
unemployment and economic stagnation, that we should go back to Mill's "Four
Propositions on Capital" for enlightenment. In Kates's view there is "more
insight into the operation of an economy than any of the Samuelson clones that
have been published to explain what Keynes meant in trying to raise aggregate
demand." The
commentators are Nick Capaldi, the Legendre-Soulé Distinguished Chair in Business
Ethics at Loyola University New Orleans; Richard M. Ebeling, the BB&T Distinguished
Professor of Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel in Charleston,
South Carolina; and Sandra J. Peart, who is dean of the Jepson School of Leadership
Studies at the University of Richmond.
See the Archive of "Liberty Matters".