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For other persons named John Hobson, see John Hobson (disambiguation). John Hobson may refer to John A Hobson (1858&ndash1940 English economist and imperial critic John Hobson (politician (1912&ndash1967

John Atkinson Hobson (July 6, 1858 – April 1, 1940), commonly known as John A. Events 1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hobson or J. A. Hobson, was an English economist and imperial critic, widely popular as a lecturer and writer. An economist is an expert in the Social science of Economics.

Contents

Life

John Atkinson Hobson was born in Derby, England, the son of William Hobson and Josephine Atkinson. Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. He was the brother of the mathematician Ernest William Hobson. Ernest William Hobson FRS ( 27 October 1856 - 19 April 1933) was an English Mathematician, now remembered He studied at Derby School and Lincoln College, Oxford, afterwards teaching classics and English literature at schools in Faversham and Exeter before accepting a position at the London School of Economics. Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries Lincoln College (in full The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford Faversham (fævɜʃəm is a town in Kent, England, in the district of Swale, roughly halfway between Sittingbourne and Canterbury Exeter ( (IPA ˈeksɪtər is a city, district and County town of Devon, England. The London School of Economics and Political Science, more commonly referred to as The London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist college of the At Exeter, Hobson experimented with homosexuality, which he mentions in his autobiography. During this time he was confused, but was able to turn to Christianity to find the answer to his problems. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings

When Hobson moved to London in 1887, England was in the middle of a major economic depression. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland While classical economics was at a loss to explain the vicious business cycles, London was awash in societies and clubs that proposed alternatives. While living in London, Hobson was exposed to the Social Democrats and Henry Mayers Hyndman, Christian Socialists, Henry George's 'One-Tax' as well as befriending several prominent Fabians at the LSE, some of whom he had known at Oxford. Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Henry Mayers Hyndman ( March 7, 1842 - November 20, 1921) was an English Writer and Politician, and the founder Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and Socialist and who see these two philosophies as Henry George ( September 2, 1839 &ndash October 29, 1897) was an American Political economist and the most influential proponent of The Fabian Society is a British Intellectual Socialist movement whose purpose is to advance the principles of Social democracy via Gradualist Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, However, none of these groups proved persuasive enough for Hobson; rather it was his collaboration with a friend, the famous businessman and mountain climber Albert F. Mummery, that would produce Hobson's contribution to economics: the theory of underconsumption. Albert Frederick Mummery ( 10 September 1855, Dover &ndash August 24, 1895, Nanga Parbat) was a British mountaineer In underconsumption theory recessions and stagnation arise due to inadequate consumer demand relative to the amount produced First outlined by Mummery and Hobson in the 1889 book, 'Physiology of Industry', underconsumption was a scathing indictment of Say's Law and classical economics' emphasis on thrift. In Economics, Say’s Law or Say’s Law of Markets is a principle attributed to French businessman and economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832 stating Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. The forwardness of the book's conclusions discredited Hobson among the professional economics community, and through the supposed (though not proven) machinations of F.Y. Edgeworth and other Neoclassical marginalists, Hobson's lectures were confined to classical literature. Francis Ysidro Edgeworth (8 February 1845 &ndash 13 February 1926 made significant contributions to the methods of statistics during the 1880s Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to Economics focusing on the determination of prices outputs and income distributions in markets Marginalism is the use of Marginal concepts within Economics. Ultimately he was pushed out of the academic community.

During the very late 19th-century his notable works included Problems of Poverty (1891), Evolution of Modern Capitalism (1894), Problem of the Unemployed (1896) and John Ruskin: Social Reformer (1898). In which, Hobson's famous critique of the classical theory of rent and proposed generalization anticipated the Neoclassical "marginal productivity" theory of distribution. Economic rent is the difference between what a Factor of production is paid and how much it would need to be paid to remain in its current use The marginal revenue productivity theory of wages also referred to as the marginal revenue product of labor is the change in total revenue earned by a firm that results from employing one more unit Income inequality metrics or income distribution metrics are techniques used by economists to measure the distribution of Income and Economic inequality

Soon after this period Hobson was recruited by the editor of the Manchester Guardian to be their South-African correspondent. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. During his coverage of the Second Boer War, Hobson began to form the idea that imperialism was the direct result of the expanding forces of modern capitalism. See also First Boer War,, South African Wars (1879-1915 The Second Boer War ( Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where His return to England was marked by his strong condemnation of the conflict.

His publications in the next few years demonstrated an exploration of the links between imperialism and international conflict. These works included War in South Africa (1900) and Psychology of Jingoism (1901). In what is arguably his magnum opus, Imperialism (1902), he espoused the opinion that imperial expansion is driven by a search for new markets and investment opportunities overseas. Imperialism A Study was a political-economic discourse written by John A Imperialism gained Hobson an international reputation, and influenced such notable thinkers as Lenin, Trotsky and Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). Leon Trotsky ( Russian:, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij The Origins of Totalitarianism is a book by Hannah Arendt which classed Nazism and Stalinism as Totalitarian movements

Hobson wrote for several other journals before writing his next major work, The Industrial System (1909). In this tract he argued that maldistribution of income led, through oversaving and underconsumption, to unemployment and that the remedy lay in eradicating the "surplus" by the redistribution of income through taxation and the nationalization of monopolies.

Hobson's opposition to the First World War led him to join the Union of Democratic Control. The Union of Democratic Control was a British Pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive Foreign policy. His advocacy for the formation of a world political body to prevent wars can be found clearly in his piece Towards International Government (1914). However, he was staunchly opposed to the League of Nations. The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920

The year 1919 saw Hobson joining the Independent Labour Party. See Independent Labor Party for the Political party in Burundi, Independent Labour Group for the Irish party and Labour candidates This was shortly followed by writings for socialist publications such as the New Leader, the Socialist Review and the New Statesman. The New Statesman is a British Left-wing political Magazine published weekly in London. During this period it became clear that Hobson favoured capitalist reformation over communist revolution. He was a notable critic of the Labour Government of 1929.

In the later years of his life, Hobson published his autobiography, Confessions of an Economic Heretic (1938), and expressed hope that the USA would join World War Two. Hobson died before the German air force attacked British skies.

Book-length works

References

See also

External links

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