Imperial profits in 1899 came from investment, not trade
Evidence
The increase in profits from foreign investment and a relative decrease of foreign trade profits characterizes the economic side of imperialism. In 1899, it was estimated that Great Britain’s whole foreign and colonial trade had brought her an income of only 18 million pounds, while in the same year profits from foreign investment amounted to 90 or 100 million pounds. See J. A. Hobson, Imperialism, London, 1938, pp. 53 ff. It is obvious that investment demanded a much more conscious long-range policy of exploitation than mere trade. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2343
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Arendt’s Hobson-derived numbers on investment vs. trade profits are a classic imperialism statistic worth verifying or citing in the toolkit.