John A. Hobson

Independent activity Liberalism and republicanism Social democracy 1858.7.6.–1940.4.1. ○ Natural causes

English economist of underconsumption whose Imperialism (1902) influenced Lenin

Hobson was born in Derby, the son of a newspaper proprietor. In Physiology of Industry (1889), written with Albert Mummery, he put forward the theory of underconsumption, criticising Say's law and classical economics' emphasis on thrift, and was shut out of the academic community. After covering the Second Boer War as a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, he argued in Imperialism (1902) that imperial expansion is driven by a search for new markets and investment opportunities overseas, a book that influenced Lenin and Trotsky. He held that maldistribution of income leads through oversaving and underconsumption to unemployment, and called for redistribution by taxation and the nationalisation of monopolies. He opposed the First World War and joined the Independent Labour Party in 1919.

Also known as: John Atkinson Hobson