FIRST EDITION OF HOBSON'S GOLD, PRICES & WAGES, 1913
HOBSON, John Atkinson. Gold, Prices & Wages with an Examination of the Quantity Theory. London: Methuen, (1913). Octavo, original blue cloth, uncut. $450.
First edition of this landmark pre-WWI work on money by iconoclastic economist John Hobson.
One of the 20th-century's most idiosyncratic economists, Hobson distinguished himself by refusing to draw a line between economics and the other social sciences. He put forward disfavored arguments about topics such as income inequality, arguing that the wealthy were hoarding their unearned money and thus causing societal ills such as unemployment and mass poverty. At the time, such notions were revolutionary. The very idea that the rich—long believed to be producers to wealth—could be causing crises in capitalism was unthinkable. Yet, Hobson believed this to be true and, gradually, sociology, psychology, and other social sciences grew to be inextricably woven through even the grittiest of his economics. This work, considered to be one of the era's finest on money, focuses on the problem of rising prices, on gold, and on the scarcity of goods. All of these issues Hobson traces back to wealth inequality in order to form a complete theory of money and prices.
Occasional foxing to text, light soiling to cloth, mild toning to spine. An extremely good copy.