2,793 works, 150 years of economic thought. Each one summarized and searchable, with cited passages inside.
Can a thinker transform public life without substantially renewing the theoretical foundations of his disciplines? This 1873 review of Mill’s Autobiography, attributed to Carl Menger and signed “–r.”, separates intellectual originality from reforming achievement. Against a continental reputation centred on Mill’s scholarly books, the reviewer emphasizes his sustained challenge to privilege and inherited institutions. The account of his severe childhood education also raises a concrete pedagogical question: should classical languages open access to ideas, or become ends in themselves? Admiration remains qualified throughout. The reviewer treats Mill’s economics as largely Ricardian in foundation yet influential in its reformist applications, offering readers a pointed examination of why scientific innovation, practical usefulness, and public influence need not coincide.