John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy is the greatest text on economic theory ever written. It was put together over the period from 1845 till 1848 when he had come to the conclusion that it was impossible to write a book on sociology that could address all of the contradictions that exist within human life. There were no principles of human life that could be summarised in the way that could be contained within a single set of covers. He turned therefore to economics instead.

The book is, however, unreadable today, partly because of the density of his writing and partly because of the presuppositions he brings along with him. I am therefore about to write an edited version of Mill’s Principles in which I will keep Mill’s words but edit the text down to its essentials. That is still around 300 words, but even then there will be the need to include introductory passages to underline the points Mill is trying to make. And the main reason I think I can do this is because I share most of Mill’s presuppositions myself, which I had originally learned from reading his Principles at the very moment I had discovered Say’s Law for myself.