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… is from page 153 of Paul Johnson’s 1983 volume, Modern Times [2]; here Johnson is criticizing the theory of imperialism made famous chiefly by Joseph Lenin and, also, J.A. Hobson [3] (links added):
If empires are created because of over-saving and under-consumption, if they represented the final stage of capitalism, how did one explain the empires of antiquity? Joseph Schumpeter [4], whose Zur Soziologie des Imperialismus (Imperialism and Social Classes [5]) appeared in Germany in 1919, was closer to the truth when he argued that modern imperialism was ‘atavistic’. Capitalism, he pointed out, usually flourished on peace and free-trade, rather than war and protectionism.