ABSTRACT
Hobson's famous book, Imperialism A Study has an episodic, disjointed character. It is a moral stance rather that a single thesis or developing argument which gives a sense of overall unity to Hobson's study. The new doctrines of outlets for investment and imperial consolidation gave a sense of urgency to Hobson's critique of imperialism. Hobson did not follow Faraday, Adams and most economists in tracing the origins of 'the new imperialism' to the appearance of the 'German system of empire' in 1870. Instead he began his book with a brief look at what Britain had been doing for the last thirty years. Hobson's way of refuting the proposition was to look at the part played by the most recently acquired colonies in the over-all pattern of British trade. Hobson believed that there was a self-interested alliance between the ambitious officials who ran the empire and the private businesses who supplied them.
