About
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born July 30, 1857 in Wisconsin and died August 3, 1929 in California, was an American economist and sociologist of Norwegian descent. Founder of institutional economics, he is best known for his work The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), which introduced the concept of 'conspicuous consumption'. He criticized the leisure class and modern business enterprise, applying Darwin's evolutionary theory to economic institutions. He taught at the University of Chicago, Stanford, and the New School for Social Research, among others.
* 1857-07-28 — † 1929-08-03
Major works
- The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)economic treatise
- The Theory of Business Enterprise (1904)economic treatise
- The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts (1914)economic treatise
- Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915)historical essay
- The Engineers and the Price System (1921)economic treatise
Key milestones
- 1899Publication of The Theory of the Leisure Class, introducing the concept of conspicuous consumption.
- 1892Appointed to the University of Chicago, where he taught until 1906 and served as managing editor of the Journal of Political Economy.
- 1919Joined the New School for Social Research, where he taught until 1927.
Themes
Conspicuous consumptionLeisure classInstitutional economicsCritique of capitalismSocial evolutionism
Sources: britannica.com · oxfordreference.com · econlib.org