Table of Contents
Preface xi
Part I Prolegomena 1
Chapter 1 Economic Theory and Policy 3
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Constraints on the Applicability of Economic Theory 5
1.3 On Deductive Method 9
1.4 Economic Theory and Competition 11
1.5 The 'Universal' Method of Economic Theory 16
1.6 Productive Organization and Motivation 18
1.7 The Laws of Production and Distribution 20
1.8 Verification and the 'Guidance of Practice' 23
1.9 Empirical 'Laws' of Social Progress and Prediction 25
1.10 Summary and Conclusion 28
Chapter 2 The 'Greatest Happiness' Principle 30
2.1 Introduction 30
2.2 The Benthamite Position: A Summary Statement 34
2.3 The Reaction from Bentham 42
2.4 The Return to Bentham 56
2.5 Utilitarianism and the Status of Justice 64
2.6 On liberty: Liberty and Social Control 73
2.7 Utility and Natural Rights 84
2.8 Utility and Custom 87
2.9 Summary and Conclusion 88
Part II Social Organization 93
Chapter 3 Social Organization 95
3.1 Introduction 95
3.2 The Indictment of Capitalism 100
3.2.1 Labour-Capital Dependency 100
3.2.2 Distributive Justice and Competition 103
3.3 Alternative Systems: A Comparative Analysis 108
3.3.1 The Communist Option 109
3.3.2 Other Socialist Options 119
3.3.3 A Provisional Conclusion 122
3.4 The 'Chapters on Socialism' 125
3.4.1 Capitalism Indicted 125
3.4.2 The Indictment Qualified 127
3.4.3 The 'Anxious Scepticism' Regarding Communism 129
3.4.4 Collectivism Rejected 133
3.4.5 Reform of the Private-Property Institution 135
3.5 Profit-Sharing Elaborated 136
3.6 Co-operation Elaborated 138
3.7 Prospects 144
3.8 Summary and Conclusion 149
Part III Public Policy 151
Chapter 4 The Market and the State 153
4.1 Introduction 153
4.2 The Case for the Market Elaborated 163
4.3 Consumer Choice and Liberty 168
4.4 Market Failure 171
4.4.1 Consumer Ignorance 171
4.4.2 Indiscriminate Benefit 173
4.4.3 Free Riding 174
4.4.4 Under-Development 175
4.5 Slate Provision 176
4.6 Monopoly and the State 182
4.7 International Trade 188
4.8 Summary and Conclusion: Progress and the State 192
Chapter 5 Welfare 200
5.1 Introduction 200
5.2 The Wage Structure 204
5.3 The Aggregate Labour Market and Population Control 210
5.3.1 The Theoretical Structure 210
5.3.2 The Poverty Trap 214
5.4 Education 216
5.4.1 Contemporary Failures 217
5.4.2 Human-Capital Format ion 221
5.4.3 On State Provision and Finance 224
5.4.4 Educational Endowments 230
5.4.5 Higher Education and Scientific Research 235
5.5 Poor Relief 237
5.6 Public Health 240
5.7 Employment 245
5.8 Factory Hours 249
5.9 Unionization 252
5.10 Colonization 254
5.11 Summary and Conclusion: Prospects for Population Control 257
Chapter 6 Property Rights, Land Reform, and Public Finance 262
6.1 Introduction 262
6.2 Property Rights 262
6.3 Endowments 268
6.4 Land Reform: Equity and Efficiency 270
6.5 Land Reform: Ireland 282
6.6 Public Finance 292
6.7 Inheritance and Bequest 308
6.8 Summary and Conclusion 310
Chapter 7 Stabilization 315
7.1 Introduction 315
7.2 The Trade Cycle in a Growth Context 315
7.3 The Banking-Currency School Debate 318
7.4 Counter-Cyclical Monetary Policy 325
7.5 A New Perspective on Fiscal Policy 328
7.6 Summary and Conclusion 332
Part IV Overview and Evaluation 337
Chapter 8 The Utilitarian Maximand I: Value Judgments 339
8.1 Introduction 339
8.2 Distributive Justice and the Stationary State 340
8.3 Distributive Justice and Trade Unionism 353
8.4 Mill a Paternalist? The Case from Education Refuted 360
8.5 On an Alleged 'Bourgeois Bias' 371
8.6 On Democratic Government 374
8.7 Conclusion 384
Chapter 9 The Utilitarian Maximand II: On Imperialism and Related Issues 386
9.1 Introduction 386
9.2 The Irish Case 394
9.3 The Indian Case 404
9.4 On Colonial Independence and the Aboriginal Question 409
9.5 Conclusion 414
Chapter 10 The Intellectual Context I: Thematic Comparisons 424
10.1 Introduction 424
10.2 Mill and Smith 424
10.3 Mill and Ricardo 437
10.4 Mill and Malta 439
10.5 Mill and Marx 444
10.5.1 The Political Dimension 444
10.5.2 Distributive Justice and Egalitarian Reform 449
10.5.3 Population Control 453
10.5.4 Methodology 456
10.6 Concluding Note: Mill and Eduard Bernstein 457
Chapter 11 The Intellectual Context II: Hayek and Mill 459
11.1 Introduction 459
11.2 Hayek on Mill: His Objections 461
11.2.1 The Role of the State 461
11.2.2 Distribution and Social Justice 462
11.2.3 Socialism 470
11.2.4 Method: The Charge of 'Scientism' 478
11.2.5 The Population Problem 479
11.3 Hayek on Mill: An Evaluation 480
11.4 Summary and Conclusion: Two Hayek Problems 487
Appendix A An Exercise in Deductive Method: Agricultural Protection 495
Appendix B Administrative Recommendations: Public Health and Poor Relief 501
Appendix C On the Education Act 1870: The Denominational Problem 505
Appendix D Hayekian Interventionism Elaborated and Mill Parallels 509
D.1 Institutional Design 509
D.2 Public-Goods Provision 515
D.3 Distributive justice 517
D.4 Employment Policy 527
Notes 530
References 539
Index 555
About the Author 573
