NO EQUALLY COMPREHENSIVE TREATISE SINCE THE WEALTH OF NATIONS

First edition of Mill’s important and influential work on political economy. “[T]here had been no equally comprehensive treatise, especially none that paid so much attention to practical applications, since the Wealth of Nations”. “

Mill brought economic theory to bear upon practical politics. Like Adam Smith, he `associates the principles with their applications’ (preface to first edition of Pol. Econ.). He treats political economy `not as a thing by itself, but as a fragment of a greater whole… for practical purposes inseparably intertwined with many other branches of social philosophy.’

The breadth of view required for this wider treatment of the science was obtained by his pre-eminence in general philosophy. In this respect also he, and he alone, is comparable to Adam Smith.