John Atkinson Hobson (1858-1940), commonly known as John A. Hobson or J. A. Hobson, was an English economist and imperial critic, widely popular as a lecturer and writer. His publications demonstrated an exploration of the links between imperialism and international conflict. These works included War in South Africa (1900) and Psychology of Jingoism (1901). Hobson wrote for several journals before writing his next major work, The Industrial System (1909). In this tract he argued that maldistribution of income led, through oversaving and underconsumption, to unemployment. In 1919 he joined the Independent Labour Party. This was shortly followed by writings for socialist publications such as the New Leader, the Socialist Review and the New Statesman. During this period it became clear that Hobson favoured capitalist reformation over communist revolution. His other works include: Problems of Poverty (1891), Evolution of Modern Capitalism (1894), Problem of the Unemployed (1896) and John Ruskin: Social Reformer (1898).