Principles of Political Economy

Principles of Political Economy (1848) by John Stuart Mill was one of the most important economics or political economy textbooks of the mid-nineteenth century, revised through its seventh edition in 1871 shortly before Mill's death in 1873 and republished in numerous further editions. Alongside descriptive questions such as which nations benefit more from trade based on comparative advantage, the work addressed normative questions such as ideal systems of political economy, critiquing proposed systems including communism and socialism. Along with A System of Logic, it established Mill's reputation as a leading public intellectual, and its sympathetic treatment of contemporary socialism, particularly Fourierism, is a notable feature of the book.