The Theory of the Leisure Class.

Notes

First edition of the Norwegian-American professor's first published book, his most successful work. Veblen's thesis was a serious economic analysis of contemporary America, but after William Dean Howells gave the book a rave review as a social satire, it became a best-seller. "Into it he poured all the acidulous ideas and fantastic terminology that had been simmering in his mind for years. It was a savage attack upon the business class and their pecuniary values, half concealed behind an elaborate screenwork of irony, mystification and polysyllabic learning" (DAB). "The treatise is essentially an analysis of the latent functions of 'conspicuous consumption' and 'conspicuous waste' as symbols of upper-class status and as competitive methods of enhancing individual prestige. Veblen's term 'conspicuous consumption' has become part of everyday language" (IESS). Modern economists identify Veblen goods, those whose desirability decreases with their price and availability.