The Political Economy of Progress

"Stressing Mill's historically situated political economy and his theories of the path of progressive social justice, Persky compares Mill to a wide-ranging cast of philosophers and economists in his own time and today. It includes both institutional and moral transformation ranging from producer-owned cooperatives and family life to the evolution of social and moral psychology to embrace growing egalitarian sympathies that require increasing material redistributions. Summing up: Highly recommended." --CHOICE

"Joseph Persky's Political Economy of Progress is a thoughtful and provocative reflection on problems with modern radical thought, and how a sympathetic reading of John Stuart Mill can provide some needed coherence. It is definitely worth reading." -- David Colander, Christian A Johnson Distinguished Professor of Economics, Middlebury College

"Like Fleischacker on Smith, Persky on Mill claims the man for the left. The claim is certainly correct, and is here thoroughly argued, exhibiting the generosity and thoughtfulness characteristic of Perksy's scholarship. Mill was simultaneously the apotheosis of laissez-faire and the beginning of its long descent. Some of us think the descent was ill-considered. To understand it, though, Persky's is the essential book, a pleasure to read from beginning to end." -- Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication Emerita, University of Illinois at Chicago

"This fine book straddles the disciplines of intellectual history and political philosophy. Persky's original and insightful discussion of how John Stuart Mill reconciled the tension between his progressivism and his commitment to liberalism will be of considerable interest to scholars of Mill and of Utilitarianism in general. The book's argument that Utilitarianism provides the most robust grounding for the design of public policy opens up a useful debate on what philosophical principles should underpin social and economic policymaking. An excellent chapter on Mill and Fabianism illustrates the author's intriguing hypothesis that modern radicalism is reformist rather than revolutionary. This book is sure to find favor with intellectual historians and political philosophers who specialize in Mill and themes of social justice." -- Gary Mongiovi, Professor of Economics, St John's University

"Persky's book marks a significant advance in our knowledge of John Stuart Mill and of his place in the history of economic thought. It argues convincingly that Mill made important additions to the work of his predecessors, and that these additions make Mill's work of great interest and relevance today." -- Steven Pressman, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Finance, Monmouth University and Professor of Economics, Colorado State University