ABSTRACT
Hobson's article, entitled 'The Economic Taproot of Imperialism', begins by quoting the contemporary argument of British businessmen that the need to develop future markets and provide an outlet for surplus capital made imperialism 'not a choice, but a necessity'. Hobson proposes to illustrate 'the practical force of this economic argument' by considering 'the recent history of the United States'. In August an article by Hobson which borrowed Wilshire's words as well as his ideas appeared in the English Contemporary Review. When Hobson travelled to the United States on a lecture tour in 1903 Wilshire reprinted his own article with Hobson's congratulatory letter attached. Hobson was already well along in his study of imperialism when he read Wilshire's article. He did not need an American to tell him that special interests benefited greatly from armaments, territorial aggrandisement and a generally belligerent foreign policy. Hobson as a theoretical economist had been writing about under consumption since 1888.
