what were john stuart mill s economic beliefs 
john stuart mill espoused his economic theories in principles of political economy a 19th century term equivalent to our contemporary macroeconomics first published in 1848 it went through several editions as he developed and refined his ideas for mill economics is closely tied to social philosophy and politics wealth is the natural end product of labor but the distribution of wealth is determined by the decisions and the will of actual people albeit an elite class of educated people consequently human laws and institutions can and should determine how wealth is distributed mill believed in the superiority of a socialist system in which economic production is driven by worker owned cooperatives but he also believed in free enterprise competition and individual initiative governments had a responsibility to maintain these things as well as to prevent monopolies look after the poor and provide an education for young people the bottom linejohn stuart mill was a politician philosopher and economist who remains of lasting interest as a liberal thinker an advocate of the individual s rights and pursuit of happiness and an ethical theorist mill believed that economic theory and philosophy were needed in politics along with social awareness to make better decisions for the good of the people several of his books including principles of political economy utilitarianism and a system of logic led him to become one of the most important if somewhat controversial public figures in 19th century british politics and economics 