Thorstein Veblen
Selected Bibliography
The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)
The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904)
Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915)
An Inquiry into the Nature of Peace and the Terms of Its Perpetuation (1917)
The Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Business Men (1918)
The Vested Interests and the Common Man (1919)
Thorstein Veblen (July 30, 1857-August 3, 1929) was an economist and social scientist who sought to apply an evolutionary, dynamic approach to the study of economic institutions. Of Norwegian descent, he didn’t speak English until he went to school at five years old. He graduated from Carleton College in three years and went on to study philosophy at Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities, receiving his Ph.D. from Yale in 1884.
His first book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, was published in 1899. In it, Veblen created the term “conspicuous consumption” to describe how the leisure class buys expensive luxury goods not because they are worth the money but because they are a sign of prestige. In his writings, Veblen expresses anti-Capitalist ideas. He went on to write several other books, including The Theory of Business Enterprise and The Engineers and the Price System.