ABSTRACT
Lenin was not the only commentator at the beginning of the twentieth century who called attention to the rapidly altering configuration of Europe's financial sector, and to its possible causes and consequences. In his pamphlet, Lenin drew upon and responded to both Hobson (Hobson, 1902)2 and Hilferding (Hilferding, 1910),3 and utilised Riesser's work (Riesser, 1905} in developing his arguments and counter-arguments. Riesser was a director of the Darmstàdter, a German 'great' bank, and his monumental volume derived from an attempt to defend these institutions against the possibility of government regulation. Contrary to Lenin, he maintained that banking concentration had not diminished the extent of competition within and across the financial sector (Tilly, 1992: 93).
