First published in 1922, Hobson's study of the depression and resulting unemployment in the aftermath of the First World War is a far-sighted analysis which looks beyond the consequences of the war itself, at the root economic causes of the crisis.

Dealing with issues such as the failure of consumption, trade fluctuations, the balance of spending and saving, and spiralling credit as factors which lay at the root of the depression, Hobson's study is a document of considerable economic, social and historical value, which still has much to teach the modern reader, whether interested layperson or student of economics.