ABSTRACT
Introduction Every nineteenth century economist, whether they were in basic agreement with David Ricardo's economic analysis or rejected it in whole or in part, was undoubtedly influenced by the tradition he shaped. His chief disciples were James Mill, his son John Stuart Mill and John Ramsey McCulloch. Of the three, John Stuart Mill (1806-73) made the greatest contribution to extending, refining, and continuing the Ricardian tradition. Indeed, he was reared in an intellectual environment precisely designed to train him to carryon the tradition of Bentham and Ricardo. Bentham's Utilitarianism is the chief source of agenda for reforming nineteenth century capitalism in England, while Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation was the basis for the further refinement and modernization of The Wealth of Nations in the light of 'the more extended knowledge and improved ideas of the present age,' and also to examine economic principles with respect to 'their application to social philosophy.' The latter objective sets the tone of the book. Mill was less concerned with theoretical analysis for its own sake than with the application of the doctrines of Malthus and Ricardo, in which he had been steeped since childhood, to the solution of the problems of the age.
