… is from page 153 of Paul Johnson’s 1983 volume, Modern Times; here Johnson is criticizing the theory of imperialism made famous chiefly by Joseph Lenin and, also, J.A. Hobson (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, whose Zur Soziologie des Imperialismus (Imperialism and Social Classes) 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.
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