What Thorstein Veblen thinks about capitalism
American economist and sociologist (1857 to 1929); author of The Theory of the Leisure Class.
Thorstein Veblen did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Only Thorstein Veblen on capitalism. See everyone on capitalism
2 dated positions, c. 1899, in their own words. Our reading of what Thorstein Veblen has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsIn the sequence of cultural evolution the emergence of a leisure class coincides with the beginning of ownership. This is necessarily the case, for these two institutions result from the same set of economic forces.
↗The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
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Our readingThe propertied class relates to the economy through acquisition and exploitation, not production
Their wordsThe relation of the leisure (that is, propertied non-industrial) class to the economic process is a pecuniary relation—a relation of acquisition, not of production; of exploitation, not of serviceability.
↗The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book