The Economic Theory Of The Leisure Class

Systematic criticism (written in 1914 from the point of view of Marxism), of bourgeois capitalist economic theories of value, of marginal utility and of profit - includes a bibliography pp. 211 to 215.

The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen - The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions (1899), by Thorstein Veblen, is a treatise on economics and a detailed, social critique of conspicuous consumption, as a function of social class and of consumerism, derived from the social stratification of people and the division of labour, which are social institutions of the feudal period (9th15th c.) that have continued to the modern era.Veblen asserts that the contemporary lords of the manor, the businessmen who own the means of production, have employed themselves in the economically unproductive practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure, which are useless activities that contribute neither to the economy nor to the material production of the useful goods and services required for the functioning of society, while it is the middle class and the working class who are usefully employed in the industrialised, productive occupations that support the whole of society.

"The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book on economics and sociology by Thorstein Veblen, giving a detailed critique of conspicuous consumption (the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display the economic power of the income). First published in 1899, Veblen argues that the upper classes and the elite partake in conspicuous consumption and do nothing to contribute to the economy or to the production of the useful goods and services required for the functioning of society - instead it is the middle class and the working class that support the whole of society."

The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book on economics and sociology by Thorstein Veblen, giving a detailed critique of conspicuous consumption (the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display the economic power of the income). First published in 1899, Veblen argues that the upper classes and the elite partake in conspicuous consumption and do nothing to contribute to the economy or to the production of the useful goods and services required for the functioning of society - instead it is the middle class and the working class that support the whole of society.

Classic of economic and social theory offers a satiric examination of the hollowness and falsity suggested by the term "conspicuous consumption," exposing the emptiness of many cherished standards of taste, education, dress, and culture. Since first appearing in 1899, it has become a classic of social theory that has contributed to the modernization of economic policy.