“This does not exhaust the absurdity of the Ricardo-Mill theory of rent ... but in fact Mill himself has completely overthrown this theory of rent.”[23]
Anyone who has carefully studied the writings of Mill cannot fail to be struck with the manner in which he allows that which Herbert Spencer terms “Political Bias,” and which Cossa terms Mill’s “narrow philosophic utilitarianism,” to affect his opinion, and warp his better judgment; and when this is the case, he is guilty of absurdities, inconsistencies, and illogical reasoning that would disgrace a school-boy.[24]
FOOTNOTES:
[14] I venture to maintain that political economy is not a body of natural laws in the true sense, or of universal and immutable truths, but an assemblage of speculations and doctrines which are the result of a particular history coloured even by the history and character of the chief writers.—T. Cliffe Leslie, Fortnightly Review, Oct. 1870.
[15] Guida Allo Studio dell’Economio Politico.—L. Cossa.
[16] Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, J. S. Mill, p. 156.
[17] Mill’s Political Economy, Bk. V. Chap. X.
[18] Cossa’s Political Economy, Bk. II. Chap. III.
[19] Practical Political Economy, by Profr. Bonamy Price.
[20] Cossa’s Political Economy, Bk. II. Chap. III.