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This paper discusses Karl Polanyi's arguments regarding financialization and international (dis)order in The Great Transformation in comparison to John Hobson's Imperialism: A Study. This comparative analysis-which takes Hobson's paradigm as the reference for our comparison-is critical for understanding Polanyi's line of reasoning in the first two chapters of The Great Transformation as well as for overcoming some of the difficulties in adapting his arguments to the contemporary era of financialization. Although both Hobson and Polanyi examined the effects of the same financial actors (London capital markets) during the same time frame (the late nineteenth and early twentieth century), the contrast between their conclusions was very stark. Hobson saw financial interests as responsible for increasing interstate rivalry and imperialist aggression in the world as a whole, whereas Polanyi regarded the same financial interests as the protectors of peace and order. After comparing the positions of these two scholars, we discuss the relevance of their arguments in the context of late twentieth and early twenty-first century financialization.
