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Available in 15 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-15" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">15 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A8%D9%82%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A9" title="نظرية الطبقة المترفة – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="نظرية الطبقة المترفة" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class" title="The Theory of the Leisure Class – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="The Theory of the Leisure Class" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teorie_zah%C3%A1l%C4%8Div%C3%A9_t%C5%99%C3%ADdy" title="Teorie zahálčivé třídy – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Teorie zahálčivé třídy" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cy mw-list-item"><a href="https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosbarth_hamddenol" title="Dosbarth hamddenol – Welsh" lang="cy" hreflang="cy" data-title="Dosbarth hamddenol" data-language-autonym="Cymraeg" data-language-local-name="Welsh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Cymraeg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorie_der_feinen_Leute" title="Theorie der feinen Leute – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Theorie der feinen Leute" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teor%C3%ADa_de_la_clase_ociosa" title="Teoría de la clase ociosa – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Teoría de la clase ociosa" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%87_%D8%B7%D8%A8%D9%82%D9%87_%D8%AA%D9%86%E2%80%8C%D8%A2%D8%B3%D8%A7" title="نظریه طبقه تن‌آسا – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="نظریه طبقه تن‌آسا" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9orie_de_la_classe_de_loisir" title="Théorie de la classe de loisir – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Théorie de la classe de loisir" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%A0%ED%95%9C%EA%B3%84%EA%B8%89%EB%A1%A0" title="유한계급론 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="유한계급론" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ka mw-list-item"><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A1%E1%83%90%E1%83%A5%E1%83%9B%E1%83%A3%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98_%E1%83%99%E1%83%9A%E1%83%90%E1%83%A1%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1_%E1%83%97%E1%83%94%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98%E1%83%90" title="უსაქმური კლასის თეორია – Georgian" lang="ka" hreflang="ka" data-title="უსაქმური კლასის თეორია" data-language-autonym="ქართული" data-language-local-name="Georgian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ქართული</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B0" title="Теория праздного класса – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Теория праздного класса" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te%C3%B3ria_z%C3%A1ha%C4%BE%C4%8Divej_triedy" title="Teória záhaľčivej triedy – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Teória záhaľčivej triedy" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5" title="Теорија доколичарске класе – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Теорија доколичарске класе" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class" title="The Theory of the Leisure Class – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="The Theory of the Leisure Class" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%89%E9%96%92%E9%9A%8E%E7%B4%9A%E8%AB%96" title="有閒階級論 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="有閒階級論" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1265755#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> 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</div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Book by Thorstein Veblen</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">The Theory of The Leisure Class <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+The+Leisure+Class&rft.author=%5B%5BThorstein+Veblen%5D%5D&rft.date=1899&rft.pub=%5B%5BMacmillan+Publishers%7CMacmillan%5D%5D&rft.place=United+States&rft.pages=400+pp&rft_id=info:oclcnum/17647347"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:The_theory_of_the_Leisure_Class.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/The_theory_of_the_Leisure_Class.jpg/220px-The_theory_of_the_Leisure_Class.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="333" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/The_theory_of_the_Leisure_Class.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="256" data-file-height="387" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Thorstein Veblen</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Original title</th><td class="infobox-data"><i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">Economics</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology">sociology</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers" title="Macmillan Publishers">Macmillan</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1899</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">United States</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Media type</th><td class="infobox-data">book</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Pages</th><td class="infobox-data">400 pp</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)"><abbr title="Online Computer Library Center number">OCLC</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/17647347">17647347</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions</b></i> (1899), by <a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Thorstein Veblen</a>, is a treatise of <a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">economics</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology">sociology</a>, and a critique of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a> as a function of <a href="/wiki/Social_class" title="Social class">social class</a> and of <a href="/wiki/Consumerism" title="Consumerism">consumerism</a>, which are social activities derived from the <a href="/wiki/Social_stratification" title="Social stratification">social stratification</a> of people and the <a href="/wiki/Division_of_labor" class="mw-redirect" title="Division of labor">division of labor</a>; the <a href="/wiki/Social_institutions" class="mw-redirect" title="Social institutions">social institutions</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Feudal_period" class="mw-redirect" title="Feudal period">feudal period</a> (9th–15th c.) that have continued to the <a href="/wiki/Modern_history" class="mw-redirect" title="Modern history">modern era</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Veblen discusses how the pursuit and the possession of wealth affects human behavior, that the contemporary <a href="/wiki/Feudal_land_tenure" class="mw-redirect" title="Feudal land tenure">lords of the manor</a>, the businessmen who own the <a href="/wiki/Means_of_production" title="Means of production">means of production</a>, have employed themselves in the economically unproductive practices of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a> and <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a>, 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. Instead, it is the <a href="/wiki/Middle_class" title="Middle class">middle class</a> and <a href="/wiki/Working_class" title="Working class">working class</a> who are usefully employed in the <a href="/wiki/Industrialised" class="mw-redirect" title="Industrialised">industrialised</a>, productive occupations that support the whole of society. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Background">Background</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> (1899) was published during the <a href="/wiki/Gilded_Age" title="Gilded Age">Gilded Age</a> (1870–1900), the time of the <a href="/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)" title="Robber baron (industrialist)">robber baron</a> millionaires <a href="/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller" title="John D. Rockefeller">John D. Rockefeller</a>, <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie" title="Andrew Carnegie">Andrew Carnegie</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt" title="Cornelius Vanderbilt">Cornelius Vanderbilt</a>, at the end of the 19th century.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Veblen presents the evolutionary development of the <a href="/wiki/Social_institutions" class="mw-redirect" title="Social institutions">social</a> and <a href="/wiki/Economic_institution" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic institution">economic</a> institutions of society, wherein <a href="/wiki/Technology" title="Technology">technology</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Industrial_arts" title="Industrial arts">industrial arts</a> are the creative forces of <a href="/wiki/Economic_production" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic production">economic production</a>. That in the economics of the production of <a href="/wiki/Goods_and_services" title="Goods and services">goods and services</a>, the social function of the economy was to meet the <a href="/wiki/Materialism" title="Materialism">material</a> needs of society and to earn profits for the owners of the <a href="/wiki/Means_of_production" title="Means of production">means of production</a>. Sociologically, that the <a href="/wiki/Industrial_production" title="Industrial production">industrial production</a> system required the workers (men and women) to be diligent, efficient, and co-operative, whilst the owners of the <a href="/wiki/Factory" title="Factory">factories</a> concerned themselves with profits and with public displays of wealth; thus the contemporary socio-economic behaviours of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a> and of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a> survived from the predatory, barbarian past of the <a href="/wiki/Tribe" title="Tribe">tribal stage</a> of modern society.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 287">: 287 </span></sup> </p><p>The sociology and economics reported in <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> show the influences of <a href="/wiki/Charles_Darwin" title="Charles Darwin">Charles Darwin</a>, <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a>, <a href="/wiki/Adam_Smith" title="Adam Smith">Adam Smith</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Herbert_Spencer" title="Herbert Spencer">Herbert Spencer</a>;<sup id="cite_ref-Ritzer_2004_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ritzer_2004-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> thereby Veblen's socio-economic theory emphasizes social evolution and development as characteristics of human institutions.<sup id="cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gross_2009-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In his time, Veblen criticised contemporary (19th-century) economic theories as intellectually static and <a href="/wiki/Hedonism" title="Hedonism">hedonistic</a>, and that economists should take account of how people actually behave, socially, and culturally, rather than rely upon the theoretic deduction meant to explain the economic behaviours of society.<sup id="cite_ref-Ritzer_2004_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ritzer_2004-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As such, Veblen's reports of American <a href="/wiki/Political_economy" title="Political economy">political economy</a> contradicted the (supply and demand) <a href="/wiki/Neoclassical_economics" title="Neoclassical economics">neoclassical economics</a> of the 18th century, which define people as <a href="/wiki/Rational_agent" title="Rational agent">rational agents</a> who seek <a href="/wiki/Utility" title="Utility">utility</a> and maximal pleasure from their economic activities; whereas Veblen's economics define people as irrational economic agents who disregard personal happiness in the continual pursuit of the <a href="/wiki/Social_status" title="Social status">social status</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Reputation" title="Reputation">prestige</a> inherent to having a place in society (<a href="/wiki/Class_(social)" class="mw-redirect" title="Class (social)">class</a> and <a href="/wiki/Social_stratification" title="Social stratification">economic stratum</a>). Veblen concluded that conspicuous consumption did not constitute social progress, because American economic development was unduly influenced by the static economics of the British aristocracy; therefore, conspicuous consumption was an un-American activity contrary to the country's dynamic culture of <a href="/wiki/Individualism" title="Individualism">individualism</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gross_2009-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Originally published as <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions</i>, the book arose from three articles that Veblen published in the <i><a href="/wiki/American_Journal_of_Sociology" title="American Journal of Sociology">American Journal of Sociology</a></i> between 1898 and 1899: (i) "The Beginning of Ownership" (ii) "The Barbarian Status of Women", and (iii) "The Instinct of Workmanship and the Irksomeness of Labour".<sup id="cite_ref-Fine_1994_160_161_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fine_1994_160_161-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These works presented the major themes of economics and sociology that he later developed in works such as: <i><a href="/wiki/The_Theory_of_Business_Enterprise" title="The Theory of Business Enterprise">The Theory of Business Enterprise</a></i> (1904), about how incompatible are the pursuit of profit and the making of useful goods; and <i>The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts</i> (1914), about the fundamental conflict between the human predisposition to useful production and the societal institutions that waste the useful products of human effort.<sup id="cite_ref-Vernon_1974_53_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Vernon_1974_53-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 286–7">: 286–7 </span></sup> </p><p>Moreover, <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> is a socio-economic treatise that resulted from Veblen's observation and perception of the United States as a society of rapidly developing economic and social institutions.<sup id="cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gross_2009-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Critics of his reportage about the sociology and economics of the <a href="/wiki/Consumerism" title="Consumerism">consumer society</a> that is the US especially disliked the <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satiric</a> tone of his literary style, and said that Veblen's cultural perspective had been negatively influenced by his austere boyhood in a <a href="/wiki/Norwegian_American" class="mw-redirect" title="Norwegian American">Norwegian American</a> community of practical, thrifty, and <a href="/wiki/Utilitarianism" title="Utilitarianism">utilitarian</a> people who endured anti-immigrant prejudices in the course of integration to American society.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="reference nowrap"><span title="Page / location: 286–7">: 286–7 </span></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Fredrickson_1959_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fredrickson_1959-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Thesis">Thesis</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Thesis"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:British_army_Lt._Col._Alistair_Aitken,_commanding_officer,_Combined_Forces_Lashkar_Gah,_and_Warrant_Officer_Evan_Philbin,_with_Alpha_Company,_4th_Battalion,_Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland,_discuss_mission_objectives_110716-M-SM240-701.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/British_army_Lt._Col._Alistair_Aitken%2C_commanding_officer%2C_Combined_Forces_Lashkar_Gah%2C_and_Warrant_Officer_Evan_Philbin%2C_with_Alpha_Company%2C_4th_Battalion%2C_Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland%2C_discuss_mission_objectives_110716-M-SM240-701.jpg/300px-thumbnail.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/British_army_Lt._Col._Alistair_Aitken%2C_commanding_officer%2C_Combined_Forces_Lashkar_Gah%2C_and_Warrant_Officer_Evan_Philbin%2C_with_Alpha_Company%2C_4th_Battalion%2C_Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland%2C_discuss_mission_objectives_110716-M-SM240-701.jpg/450px-thumbnail.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/British_army_Lt._Col._Alistair_Aitken%2C_commanding_officer%2C_Combined_Forces_Lashkar_Gah%2C_and_Warrant_Officer_Evan_Philbin%2C_with_Alpha_Company%2C_4th_Battalion%2C_Royal_Regiment_of_Scotland%2C_discuss_mission_objectives_110716-M-SM240-701.jpg/600px-thumbnail.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3000" data-file-height="2000" /></a><figcaption>In a stratified society, the profession of arms (<a href="/wiki/Military_Officer" class="mw-redirect" title="Military Officer">military officer</a>) is a leisure-class occupation.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Un_Patron,_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg/300px-Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="379" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg/450px-Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg/600px-Un_Patron%2C_by_Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3044" data-file-height="3841" /></a><figcaption>Manufacturing is an economically productive occupation for skilled-labor worker in a stratified society. (<i>Un patron</i>, by <a href="/wiki/Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland" title="Jean-Eugène Buland">Jean-Eugène Buland</a>, 1888)</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_(1885).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg/300px-Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="207" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg/450px-Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg/600px-Jean-Eug%C3%A8ne_Buland_-_L%27offrande_%281885%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1927" data-file-height="1330" /></a><figcaption>Conspicuous leisure: The devout observance of religious ritual is an activity for the leisure-class woman. (<i>L'offrande</i>, by Jean-Eugène Buland, 1885)</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Concepts">Concepts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Concepts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> Veblen coined the following sociology terms: </p> <ul><li><b>Leisure class</b> — members of the <a href="/wiki/Upper_class" title="Upper class">upper class</a> who are exempt from productive work.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><b>Pecuniary superiority</b> — the leisure class demonstrate their economic superiority by not working.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><b>Pecuniary emulation</b> — the economic effort to exceed someone else's socio-economic status.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><b>Pecuniary struggle</b> — the acquisition and exhibition of wealth in order to gain social status.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><b>Vicarious leisure</b> — the leisure of wives and servants as evidence of the wealth of the lord of the manor<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><b>Estranged leisure</b> — the leisure of servants is realised in behalf of the lord of the manor.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_stratified_society">The stratified society</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: The stratified society"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> established that the <a href="/wiki/Political_economy" title="Political economy">political economy</a> of a <a href="/wiki/Modern_history" class="mw-redirect" title="Modern history">modern society</a> is based upon the <a href="/wiki/Social_stratification" title="Social stratification">social stratification</a> of <a href="/wiki/Tribal_societies" class="mw-redirect" title="Tribal societies">tribal</a> and <a href="/wiki/Feudalism" title="Feudalism">feudal</a> societies, rather than upon the <a href="/wiki/Meritocracy" title="Meritocracy">merit</a> and <a href="/wiki/Social_utility" class="mw-redirect" title="Social utility">social utility</a> and <a href="/wiki/Economic_utility" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic utility">economic utility</a> of individual men and women. Veblen's examples indicate that many economic behaviours of contemporary society derive from corresponding tribal-society behaviours, wherein men and women practiced the <a href="/wiki/Division_of_labor" class="mw-redirect" title="Division of labor">division of labor</a> according to their <a href="/wiki/Status_group" title="Status group">status group</a>; high-status people practiced <a href="/wiki/Hunting" title="Hunting">hunting</a> and <a href="/wiki/War" title="War">warfare</a>, which are economically unproductive occupations, whilst low-status people practiced farming and manufacturing, which are economically productive occupations. In a socially-stratified society, the <i>leisure class</i> are the members of the <a href="/wiki/Upper_class" title="Upper class">upper class</a> who are exempt from productive work.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="(i)_Occupation"><span id=".28i.29_Occupation"></span><span class="anchor" id="Occupation"></span><span class="anchor" id="pecuniary_superiority"></span>(i) Occupation</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: (i) Occupation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The concepts of <a href="/wiki/Dignity" title="Dignity">dignity</a> and <a href="/wiki/Self-worth" class="mw-redirect" title="Self-worth">Self-worth</a> and <a href="/wiki/Honour" title="Honour">Honour</a> are the bases of the development of <a href="/wiki/Social_class" title="Social class">social class</a> and distinctions of type among the social classes; thus, by way of social stratification, <a href="/wiki/Productive_labor" class="mw-redirect" title="Productive labor">productive labor</a> came to be seen as disreputable. Therefore, the accumulation of wealth does not confer social status, as does the evidence of wealth, such as leisure.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In a <a href="/wiki/Stratified_society" class="mw-redirect" title="Stratified society">stratified society</a>, the division of labor inherent to the <a href="/wiki/Barbarian" title="Barbarian">barbarian</a> culture of <a href="/wiki/Conquest" title="Conquest">conquest</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dominance_hierarchy" title="Dominance hierarchy">domination</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Exploitation_of_labour" title="Exploitation of labour">exploitation of labour</a> featured labour-intensive occupations for the conquered people, and light-labour occupations for the conquerors, who thus became <i>the leisure class</i>. In that societal context, although low-status, productive occupations (<a href="/wiki/Tinker" title="Tinker">tinker</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tailor" title="Tailor">tailor</a>, <a href="/wiki/Chandler_(occupation)" class="mw-redirect" title="Chandler (occupation)">chandler</a>) were of greater economic value to society than were high-status, unproductive occupations (the <a href="/wiki/Military_officer" class="mw-redirect" title="Military officer">profession of arms</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Clergy" title="Clergy">clergy</a>, <a href="/wiki/Banking" class="mw-redirect" title="Banking">banking</a>, etc.), for <a href="/wiki/Social_cohesion" class="mw-redirect" title="Social cohesion">social cohesion</a>, the leisure class occasionally performed productive work that was more <a href="/wiki/Symbolic_interactionism" title="Symbolic interactionism">symbolic</a> than practical. </p><p>The leisure class engaged in displays of pecuniary superiority by not working and by the:<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ol><li>Accumulation of property and material possessions</li> <li>Accumulation of immaterial goods — high-level education, a <a href="/wiki/Family_crest" class="mw-redirect" title="Family crest">family crest</a></li> <li>Adoption of archaic social skills — <a href="/wiki/Manners" class="mw-redirect" title="Manners">manners</a> and <a href="/wiki/Etiquette" title="Etiquette">etiquette</a>, <a href="/wiki/Chivalry" title="Chivalry">chivalry</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Code_of_conduct" title="Code of conduct">code of conduct</a></li> <li>Employment of <a href="/wiki/Servant" class="mw-redirect" title="Servant">servants</a></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="(ii)_Economic_utility"><span id=".28ii.29_Economic_utility"></span>(ii) Economic utility</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: (ii) Economic utility"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In exercising political control, the leisure class retained their high social-status by direct and indirect coercion, by reserving for themselves the profession of arms, and so withheld weapons and military skills from the lower social classes. Such a division of labor (<a href="/wiki/Economic_utility" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic utility">economic utility</a>) rendered the lower classes dependent upon the leisure class, which established, justified, and perpetuated the role of the leisure class as the defenders of society against natural and supernatural enemies, because the clergy also belonged to the leisure class. </p><p>Contemporary society did not psychologically supersede the tribal-stage division of labor, but evolved the division-of-labor by social status and social stratum. During the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Mediæval period</a> (5th–15th c.) only <a href="/wiki/Feudal_land_tenure" class="mw-redirect" title="Feudal land tenure">land-owning noblemen</a> had the right to hunt and to bear arms as soldiers; status and income were parallel. Likewise, in contemporary society, skilled laborers of the <a href="/wiki/Working_class" title="Working class">working class</a> are paid an income in <a href="/wiki/Wages" class="mw-redirect" title="Wages">wages</a>, which is inferior to the <a href="/wiki/Salary" title="Salary">salary</a> income paid to the educated <a href="/wiki/Middle_class#Professional–managerial_class" title="Middle class">managers</a> whose economic importance (as <a href="/wiki/Engineer" title="Engineer">engineers</a>, <a href="/wiki/Marketing" title="Marketing">salesmen</a>, <a href="/wiki/Human_resources" title="Human resources">personnel clerks</a>, <i>et al.</i>) is indirectly productive; income and status are parallel. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="(iii)_Pecuniary_emulation"><span id=".28iii.29_Pecuniary_emulation"></span><span class="anchor" id="Pecuniary_emulation"></span>(iii) Pecuniary emulation</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: (iii) Pecuniary emulation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The term <i>pecuniary emulation</i> describes a person's economic efforts to surpass a rich person's socio-economic status.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Veblen said that the <i>pecuniary struggle</i> to acquire and exhibit wealth, in order to gain status, is the driving force behind the development of culture and society.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_1-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> To attain, retain, and gain greater social status within their social class, low-status people emulate the high-status members of their socio-economic class, by <a href="/wiki/Consumerism" title="Consumerism">consuming</a> over-priced <a href="/wiki/Brand" title="Brand">brands</a> of goods and services perceived to be of better quality and thus of a higher social-class. In striving for greater social status, people buy high-status goods and services which they cannot afford, despite the availability of affordable products that are perceived as of lower quality and lesser <a href="/wiki/Social_prestige" class="mw-redirect" title="Social prestige">social prestige</a>, and thus of a lower social class. In a consumer society, the businessman was the latest member of the leisure class, a barbarian who used his prowess (business acumen) and competitive skills (marketing) to increase <a href="/wiki/Profit_(economics)" title="Profit (economics)">profits</a>, by manipulating the supply and the demand among the social classes and their strata, for the same products (goods and services) at different prices. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Contemporary_consumerism">Contemporary consumerism</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Contemporary consumerism"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><b>The subjugation of women</b> — Women originally were spoils of war captured by raiding barbarians. In contemporary society, the unemployed <a href="/wiki/Housewife" title="Housewife">housewife</a> is an economic trophy that attests to a man's socio-economic prowess. In having a wife without an independent economic life (a profession, a trade, a job) a man can display her unemployed status as a form of his <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a> and as an object of his <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a>.</li> <li><b>The popularity of sport</b> — American football is sociologically advantageous to community cohesion; yet, in itself, sport is an economic side-effect of conspicuous leisure that wastes material resources.</li> <li><b>Devout observances</b> — Organized religion is a type of conspicuous leisure (wasted time) and of conspicuous consumption (wasted resources); a social activity of no economic consequence, because a church is an unproductive use of land and resources, and clergy (men and women) do unproductive work.</li> <li><b>Social formalities</b> — social manners are remnant barbarian behaviours, such as paying respect to one's <a href="/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)" title="Power (social and political)">socially powerful</a> betters. In itself, <a href="/wiki/Etiquette" title="Etiquette">etiquette</a> has little value (practical or economic), but is of much social value as <a href="/wiki/Cultural_capital" title="Cultural capital">cultural capital</a>, which identifies, establishes, and enforces <i>distinctions of place</i> (social stratum) within a social class.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Overview">Overview</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Overview"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Conspicuous_economics">Conspicuous economics</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Conspicuous economics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1224211176">.mw-parser-output .quotebox{background-color:#F9F9F9;border:1px solid #aaa;box-sizing:border-box;padding:10px;font-size:88%;max-width:100%}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft{margin:.5em 1.4em .8em 0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright{margin:.5em 0 .8em 1.4em}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.centered{overflow:hidden;position:relative;margin:.5em auto .8em auto}.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatleft span,.mw-parser-output .quotebox.floatright span{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox>blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{text-align:center;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}}</style><div class="quotebox pullquote floatright" style="width:35%; ;"> <blockquote class="quotebox-quote left-aligned" style=""> <p>In order to gain and to hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence. </p> </blockquote> <div style="padding-bottom: 0; padding-top: 0.5em"><cite class="right-aligned" style="">Thorstein Veblen, <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i><sup id="cite_ref-Veblen_1934,_p._36_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Veblen_1934,_p._36-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></div> </div> <p>With <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study in the Evolution of Institutions</i> (1899), Veblen introduced, described, and explained the concepts of "<a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a>" and of "<a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a>" to the nascent, academic discipline of <a href="/wiki/Sociology" title="Sociology">sociology</a>. Conspicuous consumption is the application of money and material resources towards the display of a higher social status (e.g. silver flatware, custom-made clothes, an over-sized house); and conspicuous leisure is the application of extended time to the pursuit of pleasure (physical and intellectual), such as sport and the <a href="/wiki/Fine_art" title="Fine art">fine arts</a>. Therefore, such physical and <a href="/wiki/Intellectualism" title="Intellectualism">intellectual</a> pursuits display the freedom of the rich man and woman from having to work in an economically productive occupation.<sup id="cite_ref-Chao_Schor_1998_?_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chao_Schor_1998_?-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Theses">Theses</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Theses"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><b>Chapter I: Introductory</b></li></ul> <p>The modern industrial society developed from the barbarian tribal society, which featured a leisure class supported by subordinated working classes employed in economically productive occupations. The people of the leisure class were exempted from manual work and from practicing economically productive occupations, because they belong to the leisure class. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter II: Pecuniary Emulation</b></li></ul> <p>The emergence of a leisure class coincides with the beginning of <a href="/wiki/Ownership" title="Ownership">ownership</a>, initially based upon <a href="/wiki/Marriage" title="Marriage">marriage</a> as a form of ownership — of women and their chattel property — as evidence of prowess. As such, the material consumption of the leisure class has little to do with either comfort or subsistence, and much to do with <a href="/wiki/Reputation" title="Reputation">social esteem</a> from the community, and thus with <a href="/wiki/Self-respect" class="mw-redirect" title="Self-respect">self-respect</a>. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg/300px-JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="424" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg/450px-JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg/600px-JuengeresMathildenkreuz.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1700" data-file-height="2403" /></a><figcaption>The pecuniary canons of taste of the leisure class ascribe monetary and <a href="/wiki/Aesthetics" title="Aesthetics">æsthetic</a> value to an <i><a href="/wiki/Objet_d%27art" title="Objet d'art">objet d'art</a></i>, such as <a href="/wiki/Cross_of_Mathilde" title="Cross of Mathilde"><i>The Cross of Mathilde</i></a> (ca. AD 1000), which realises conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption in one object.</figcaption></figure> <ul><li><b>Chapter III: Conspicuous Leisure</b></li></ul> <p>Among the lower social classes, a man's reputation as a diligent, efficient, and productive worker is the highest form of pecuniary emulation of the leisure class available to him in society. Yet, among the <a href="/wiki/Social_strata" class="mw-redirect" title="Social strata">social strata</a> of the leisure class, manual labor is perceived as a sign of social and economic weakness; thus, the defining, social characteristics of the leisure class are the exemption from useful employment and the practice of conspicuous leisure as a non-productive consumption of time. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter IV: Conspicuous Consumption</b></li></ul> <p>Theoretically, the consumption of luxury products (goods and services) is limited to the leisure class, because the working classes have other, more important, things and activities on which to spend their limited income, their <a href="/wiki/Wages" class="mw-redirect" title="Wages">wages</a>. Yet, such is not the case, because the lower classes consume expensive alcoholic beverages and narcotic drugs. In doing so, the working classes seek to emulate the standards of life and play of the leisure class, because they are the people at the head of the social structure in point of reputability. In that emulation of the leisure class, <a href="/wiki/Etiquette" title="Etiquette">social manners</a> are a result of the non-productive, consumption of time by the upper social classes; thus the social utility of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a> and of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a> lies in their wastefulness of time and resources. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter V: The Pecuniary Standard of Living</b></li></ul> <p>In a society of industrialised production (of goods and services), the habitual consumption of products establishes a person's standard of living; therefore, it is more difficult to do without products than it is to continually add products to one's way of life. Moreover, upon achieving self-preservation (food and shelter), the needs of conspicuous waste determine the economic and industrial improvements of society. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter VI: Pecuniary Canons of Taste</b></li></ul> <p>To the leisure class, a material object becomes a product of conspicuous consumption when it is integrated to the canon of honorific waste, by being regarded either as beautiful or worthy of possession for itself. Consequently, to the lower classes, possessing such an object becomes an exercise in the pecuniary emulation of the leisure class. Therefore, an <i>objet d'art</i> made of precious metal and gemstones is a more popular possession than is an object of art made of equally beautiful, but less expensive materials, because a high price can masquerade as beauty that appeals to the sense of social prestige of the possessor-consumer. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter VII: Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture</b></li></ul> <p>In a consumer society, the function of clothes is to define the wearer as a man or as a woman who belongs to a given social class, not for protection from the environment. Clothing also indicates that the wearer's livelihood does not depend upon economically productive labor, such as farming and manufacturing, which activities require protective clothing. Moreover, the symbolic function of clothes indicates that the wearer belongs to the leisure class, and can afford to buy new clothes when the fashion changes. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter VIII: Industrial Exemption and Conservatism</b></li></ul> <p>A society develops through the establishment of institutions (social, governmental, economic, etc.) modified only in accordance with ideas from the past, in order to maintain societal stability. Politically, the leisure class maintain their societal dominance, by retaining out-dated aspects of the political economy; thus, their opposition to socio-economic <a href="/wiki/Progressivism" title="Progressivism">progressivism</a> to the degree that they consider political <a href="/wiki/Conservatism" title="Conservatism">conservatism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a>, and political <a href="/wiki/Reactionary" title="Reactionary">reaction</a> as honorific features of the leisure class. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter IX: The Conservation of Archaic Traits</b></li></ul> <p>The existence of the leisure class influences the behaviour of the individual man and woman, by way of social ambition. To <a href="/wiki/Social_mobility" title="Social mobility">rise in society</a>, a person from a lower class emulates the characteristics of the desired upper class; he or she assumes the habits of economic consumption and social attitudes (archaic traits of demeanour in speech, dress, and manners). In pursuit of social advancement, and concomitant social prestige, the man and the woman who rid themselves of <a href="/wiki/Ethics" title="Ethics">scruple and honesty</a> will more readily rise into a stratum of the leisure class. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter X: Modern Survivals of Prowess</b></li></ul> <p>As owners of the <a href="/wiki/Means_of_production" title="Means of production">means of production</a>, the leisure class benefit from, but do not work in, the industrial community, and do not materially contribute to the commonweal (the welfare of the public) but do consume the goods and services produced by the working classes. As such, the individual success (social and economic) of a person derives from his or her astuteness and ferocity, which are character traits nurtured by the pecuniary culture of the consumer society. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg/275px-Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="466" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg/413px-Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg/550px-Godward_Idleness_1900.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1179" data-file-height="1998" /></a><figcaption>The leisure-class woman as subject and object of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure: <i>Idleness</i>, by <a href="/wiki/John_William_Godward" title="John William Godward">John William Godward</a>, ca. 1900</figcaption></figure> <ul><li><b>Chapter XI: The Belief in Luck</b></li></ul> <p>The belief in the concept of 'luck' (<a href="/wiki/Fortuna" title="Fortuna">Fortuna</a>) is one reason why people <a href="/wiki/Gambling" title="Gambling">gamble</a>; likewise follows the belief that luck is a part of achieving socio-economic success, rather than the likelier reason of social connections derived from a person's social class and social stratum. Within the social strata of the leisure class, the belief in luck is greater in the matter of sport (wherein physical prowess does matter) because of personal pride, and the concomitant social prestige; hence, gambling is a display of conspicuous consumption and of conspicuous leisure. Nonetheless, gambling (the belief in luck) is a social practice common to every social class of society. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter XII: Devout Observances</b></li></ul> <p>The existence, function, and practice of religion in a socially-stratified society, is a form of abstract conspicuous consumption for and among the members of the person's community, of devotion to the value system that justifies the existence of his or her social class. As such, attending church services, participating in religious rites, and paying tithes, are a form of conspicuous leisure. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter XIII: Survivals of the Non-invidious Interest</b></li></ul> <p>The clergy and the women who are members of the leisure class function as objects of vicarious leisure, thus, it is morally impossible for them to work and productively contribute to society. As such, maintaining a high social-class is more important for a woman of the leisure class, than it is for a man of the leisure class. Women, therefore, are the greatest indicators of a man's socio-economic standing in his respective community. In a consumer society, how a woman spends her time and what activities she does with her time communicate the social standing of her husband, her family, and her social class. </p> <ul><li><b>Chapter XIV: The Higher Learning as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture</b></li></ul> <p>Education (academic, technical, religious) is a form of conspicuous leisure, because it does not directly contribute to the economy of society. Therefore, high-status, ceremonial symbols of book-learning, such as the gown and mortar-board-cap of the university graduate educated in abstract subjects (science, mathematics, philosophy, etc.) are greatly respected, whereas certificates, low-status, ceremonial symbols of practical schooling (technology, manufacturing, etc.) are not greatly respected to the same degree, because the contemporary university is a leisure-class institution. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Criticism_and_critique">Criticism and critique</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Criticism and critique"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Literary_style">Literary style</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Literary style"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, Veblen used <a href="/wiki/Idiosyncrasy" title="Idiosyncrasy">idiosyncratic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirical</a> language to identify, describe, and explain the consumerist <a href="/wiki/Mores" title="Mores">mores</a> of American modern society in the 19th century; thus, about the impracticality of <a href="/wiki/Etiquette" title="Etiquette">etiquette</a> as a form of <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">conspicuous leisure</a>, Veblen said: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>A better illustration [of conspicuous leisure], or at least a more unmistakable one, is afforded by a certain King of France who was said to have lost his life in the observance of good form. In the absence of the functionary whose office it was to shift his master's seat, the King sat uncomplaining before the fire, and suffered his royal person to be toasted beyond recovery. But, in so doing, he saved his Most Christian Majesty from menial contamination.<sup id="cite_ref-Veblen_1934,_p._33_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Veblen_1934,_p._33-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>In contrast, Veblen used <a href="/wiki/Objectivity_(philosophy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Objectivity (philosophy)">objective</a> language in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Theory_of_Business_Enterprise" title="The Theory of Business Enterprise">The Theory of Business Enterprise</a></i> (1904), which analyses the <a href="/wiki/Business_cycle" title="Business cycle">business-cycle</a> behaviours of businessmen. In his introduction to the 1973 edition, the economist <a href="/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith" title="John Kenneth Galbraith">John Kenneth Galbraith</a> said that <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> is Veblen's <a href="/wiki/Intellectualism" title="Intellectualism">intellectual</a> put-down of American society. That Veblen spoke satirically in order to soften the negative implications of his socio-economic analyses of the U.S. social-class system, facts that are more psychologically threatening to the American ego and the <i><a href="/wiki/Status_quo" title="Status quo">status quo</a></i>, than the negative implications of <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a>'s analyses. That, unlike Marx, who asserted capitalism as superior to feudalism in providing products (goods and services) for mass consumption, Veblen did not recognise such a distinction. For him <a href="/wiki/Capitalism" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a> was one form of economic barbarism, and that goods and services produced for <a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">conspicuous consumption</a> are fundamentally worthless. </p><p>In the Introduction to the 1967 edition of <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, economist <a href="/wiki/Robert_Lekachman" title="Robert Lekachman">Robert Lekachman</a> said that Veblen was a <a href="/wiki/Misanthropy" title="Misanthropy">misanthrope</a>: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>As a child, Veblen was a notorious tease, and an inveterate inventor of malicious nicknames. As an adult, Veblen developed this aptitude into the abusive category and the cutting analogy. In this volume [<i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>] the most striking categories are four in number: [i] Conspicuous Consumption, [ii] Vicarious Consumption, [iii] Conspicuous Leisure, and [iv] Conspicuous Waste. It is amazing what a very large proportion of social activity, higher education, devout observance, and upper-class consumer goods seemed to fit snugly into one, or another, of these classifications.</p><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite>Robert Lekachman, Introduction to <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> (1967 ed.)</cite></div></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="19th_century">19th century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: 19th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The success of <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> (1899) derived from the fidelity, veracity, and accuracy of Veblen's reportage about the socio-economic behaviours of the American system of social classes.<sup id="cite_ref-Chase_1934_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chase_1934-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additional to the success (financial, academic, social) accrued to him by the book, a social-scientist colleague told Veblen that the sociology of gross <a href="/wiki/Consumerism" title="Consumerism">consumerism</a> catalogued in <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> had much "fluttered the dovecotes of the East", especially in the Ivy League academic <a href="/wiki/The_Establishment" title="The Establishment">Establishment</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_228_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Heilbroner_2000_228-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the two-part book review "An Opportunity for American Fiction" (April–May 1899), the critic <a href="/wiki/William_Dean_Howells" title="William Dean Howells">William Dean Howells</a> made Veblen's treatise the <a href="/wiki/Handbook" title="Handbook">handbook</a> of sociology and economics for the American <a href="/wiki/Intelligentsia" title="Intelligentsia">intelligentsia</a> of the early 20th century.<sup id="cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_228_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Heilbroner_2000_228-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Reviewing first the economics and then the social satire in <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, Howells said that social-class anxiety impels American society to wasteful consumerism, especially the pursuit of social <a href="/wiki/Reputation" title="Reputation">prestige</a>. That despite social classes being alike in most <a href="/wiki/Social_stratification" title="Social stratification">stratified societies</a>, the novelty of the American social-class system was that the leisure class had only recently appeared in U.S. history.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Asking for a novelist to translate into fiction what the social-scientist Veblen had reported, Howells concluded that a <a href="/wiki/Novel_of_manners" title="Novel of manners">novel of manners</a> was an opportunity for American fiction to accessibly communicate the satire in <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>:<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p> It would be easy to burlesque [the American leisure class], but to burlesque it would be intolerable, and the witness [Veblen] who did this would be bearing false testimony where the whole truth and nothing but the truth is desirable. A democracy, the proudest, the most sincere, the most ardent that history has ever known, has evolved here a leisure class which has all the distinguishing traits of a <a href="/wiki/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)" title="Patrician (ancient Rome)">patriciate</a>, and which by the chemistry of intermarriage with European aristocracies is rapidly acquiring antiquity. Is not this a phenomenon worthy the highest fiction? Mr. Veblen has brought to its study the methods and habits of scientific inquiry. To translate these into dramatic terms would form the unequalled triumph of the novelist who had the seeing eye and the thinking mind, not to mention the feeling heart. That such a thing has not been done hitherto is all the stranger, because fiction, in other countries, has always employed itself with the leisure class, with the <a href="/wiki/Aristocracy" title="Aristocracy">aristocracy</a>; and our own leisure class now offers not only as high an opportunity as any which fiction has elsewhere enjoyed, but by its ultimation in the English leisure class, it invites the American imagination abroad on conditions of unparalleled advantage.</p></blockquote> <p>In the <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_Political_Economy" title="Journal of Political Economy">Journal of Political Economy</a></i> (September 1899), the book reviewer John Cummings said: </p> <blockquote><p>As a contribution to the general theory of sociology, Dr. Veblen's <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> requires no other commendation for its scholarly performance than that which a casual reading of the work readily inspires. Its highly original character makes any abridgement of it exceedingly difficult and inadequate, and such an abridgement cannot be even attempted here ... The following pages, however, are devoted to a discussion of certain points of view in which the author seems, to the writer [Cummings], to have taken an incomplete survey of the facts, or to have allowed his interpretation of facts to be influenced by personal animus.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="20th_century">20th century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: 20th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In the essay "Prof. Veblen" (1919) the intellectual <a href="/wiki/H._L._Mencken" title="H. L. Mencken">H. L. Mencken</a> addressed the matters of Americans' social psychology reported in <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> (1899), by asking: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>Do I enjoy a decent bath because I know that John Smith cannot afford one—or because I delight in being clean? Do I admire Beethoven's <i>Fifth Symphony</i> because it is incomprehensible to Congressmen and Methodists—or because I genuinely love music? Do I prefer <a href="/wiki/Terrapin" title="Terrapin">terrapin</a> <i>à la</i> Maryland to fried liver, because plowhands must put up with the liver—or because the terrapin is intrinsically a more charming dose?<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Mencken_1919_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mencken_1919-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote><p> In the essay "The Dullest Book of The Month: Dr. Thorstein Veblen Gets the Crown of Deadly Nightshade" (1919), after addressing the content of <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, the book reviewer <a href="/wiki/Robert_Charles_Benchley" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Charles Benchley">Robert Benchley</a> addressed the subject of who are readers to whom Veblen speaks, that:</p><blockquote><p>the Doctor has made one big mistake, however. He has presupposed, in writing this book, the existence of a [social] class with much more leisure than any class in the world ever possessed—for, has he not counted on a certain number of readers?<sup id="cite_ref-Benchley_1919_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Benchley_1919-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p></blockquote> <p>In the Introduction to the 1934 edition, the economist <a href="/wiki/Stuart_Chase" title="Stuart Chase">Stuart Chase</a> said that the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> (1929–1941) had vindicated Veblen the economist, because <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> had unified "the outstanding economists of the world".<sup id="cite_ref-Chase1934_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Chase1934-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the foreword to the 1953 edition, sociologist <a href="/wiki/C._Wright_Mills" title="C. Wright Mills">C. Wright Mills</a> said that Veblen was "the best critic of America that America has ever produced".<sup id="cite_ref-Mills_1953_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mills_1953-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the Introduction to the 1973 edition of the book, economist <a href="/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith" title="John Kenneth Galbraith">John Kenneth Galbraith</a> addressed the author as subject, and said that Veblen was a man of his time, and that <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>—published in 1899—reflected Veblen's 19th-century <a href="/wiki/Weltanschauung" class="mw-redirect" title="Weltanschauung">world view</a>. That in his person and personality, the social scientist Veblen was neglectful of his grooming and tended to be disheveled; that he suffered social intolerance for being an intellectual and an <a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">agnostic</a> in a society of <a href="/wiki/Superstition" title="Superstition">superstitious</a> and <a href="/wiki/Anti-intellectualism" title="Anti-intellectualism">anti-intellectual</a> people, and so tended to curtness with less intelligent folk.<sup id="cite_ref-John_Kenneth_Galbraith_1973_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-John_Kenneth_Galbraith_1973-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>John Dos Passos writes of Veblen in his trilogy novel <i><a href="/wiki/U.S.A._(trilogy)" title="U.S.A. (trilogy)">U.S.A</a></i>, in the third novel (1933), <i>The Big Money.</i> There, as one of Passos' highly subjective portraits of historical figures throughout the trilogy, Veblen is bio-sketched in THE BITTER DRINK in about 10 pages, referring presumably in that title to the hemlock Socrates was forced to drink for his supposed crimes. The portrait ends with these three final lines: "but his memorial remains/riveted into the language/the sharp clear prism of his mind." </p> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Thornstein_Veblen_1.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Thornstein_Veblen_1.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="264" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="264" /></a><figcaption>In <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i>, Veblen argues that the <a href="/wiki/Political_economy" title="Political economy">political economy</a> of the U.S. is an imitation of the socio-economically static <a href="/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Monarchy of the United Kingdom">monarchy of Britain</a></figcaption></figure> <p>In <i>The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers</i> (1953), the historian of economics <a href="/wiki/Robert_Heilbroner" title="Robert Heilbroner">Robert Heilbroner</a> said that Veblen's socio-economic theories applied to the <a href="/wiki/Gilded_Age" title="Gilded Age">Gilded Age</a> (1870–1900) of gross <a href="/wiki/Materialism" title="Materialism">materialism</a> and political corruption in the U.S. of the 19th century, but are inapplicable in 21st-century economics, because <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> is specific to U.S. society in general, and to the society of Chicago in particular.<sup id="cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_?_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Heilbroner_2000_?-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In that vein, in <i>No Rest for the Wealthy</i> (2009), the journalist <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Gross_(journalist)" title="Daniel Gross (journalist)">Daniel Gross</a> said: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>In the book, Veblen—whom C. Wright Mills called "the best critic of America that America has ever produced"—dissected the habits and mores of a privileged group that was exempt from industrial toil and distinguished by lavish expenditures. His famous phrase <i>conspicuous consumption</i> referred to spending that satisfies no need other than to build prestige, a cultural signifier intended to intimidate and impress. In this age of repossessed yachts, half-finished McMansions and broken-down leveraged buyouts, Veblen proves that a 110-year-old sociological vivisection of the financial overclass can still be <i>au courant</i>. Yet, while Veblen frequently reads as still 100 percent right on the foibles of the rich, when it comes to an actual theory of the contemporary leisure class, he now comes off as about 90 percent wrong.<sup id="cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gross_2009-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affluenza" title="Affluenza">Affluenza</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-consumerism" title="Anti-consumerism">Anti-consumerism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Keeping_up_with_the_Joneses" title="Keeping up with the Joneses">Keeping up with the Joneses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Downshifting_(lifestyle)" title="Downshifting (lifestyle)">Downshifting (lifestyle)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frugality" title="Frugality">Frugality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Over-consumption" class="mw-redirect" title="Over-consumption">Over-consumption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Signalling_theory" title="Signalling theory">Signalling theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simple_living" title="Simple living">Simple living</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veblen_good" title="Veblen good">Veblen good</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Feminism" title="Feminism">Feminism</a></li></ul></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dt>Notes</dt></dl> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-:0-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-8"><sup><i><b>i</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-9"><sup><i><b>j</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_1-10"><sup><i><b>k</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Bain, Jonathan. 2008. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://faculty.poly.edu/~jbain/socphil/socphillectures/D.Veblen.pdf">Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) 'Conspicuous Leisure'</a>." Social Philosophy (Spring 2008) [PL 2044]. Polytechnic Institute of New York University. Retrieved 2021 May 11.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" class="mw-redirect" title="The New Encyclopædia Britannica">The New Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i> (15th ed.), Vol. 12.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Ritzer_2004-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Ritzer_2004_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Ritzer_2004_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFRitzer2004">Ritzer 2004</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Gross_2009-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gross_2009_4-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFGross2009">Gross 2009</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Fine_1994_160_161-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Fine_1994_160_161_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFFine1994">Fine 1994</a>, pp. 160–1.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Vernon_1974_53-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Vernon_1974_53_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVernon1974">Vernon 1974</a>, p. 53.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Fredrickson_1959-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Fredrickson_1959_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFFredrickson1959">Fredrickson 1959</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:2-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:2_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:2_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFChen" class="citation web cs1">Chen, James. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/thorstein-veblen.asp">"Thorstein Veblen Definition"</a>. <i>Investopedia</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">11 May</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Investopedia&rft.atitle=Thorstein+Veblen+Definition&rft.aulast=Chen&rft.aufirst=James&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.investopedia.com%2Fterms%2Ft%2Fthorstein-veblen.asp&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Veblen_1934,_p._36-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Veblen_1934,_p._36_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1934">Veblen 1934</a>, p. 36</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Chao_Schor_1998_?-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Chao_Schor_1998_?_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFChaoSchor1998">Chao & Schor 1998</a>, p. ?.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Veblen_1934,_p._33-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Veblen_1934,_p._33_11-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1934">Veblen 1934</a>, p. 33</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Chase_1934-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Chase_1934_12-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1934">Veblen 1934</a>, Introduction by Stuart Chase.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Heilbroner_2000_228-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_228_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_228_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHeilbroner2000">Heilbroner 2000</a>, p. 228.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHowells1899a">Howells 1899a</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHowells1899b">Howells 1899b</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Cummings, John (1899). "The Theory of the Leisure Class." <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_Political_Economy" title="Journal of Political Economy">Journal of Political Economy</a></i> 7(4):425–55. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1086%2F250610">10.1086/250610</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1817954">1817954</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:153636752">153636752</a>. p. 425.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mencken, Henry Louis. 1919. "Professor Veblen", in <i>Prejudices: First Series</i>. New York: Knopf. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/325153">325153</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Mencken_1919-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Mencken_1919_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFMencken1919">Mencken 1919</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Benchley_1919-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Benchley_1919_19-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Benchley, Robert Charles. 1919 April. "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.geocities.ws/veblenite/txt/rev_tlc_vanityfair.txt">The Dullest Book of The Month: Dr. Thorstein Veblen Gets the Crown of Deadly Nightshade</a>." <i>Vanity Fair</i>. Retrieved 2021 May 11.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Chase1934-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Chase1934_20-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1934">Veblen 1934</a>, Introduction by Stuart Chase, p. xii.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Mills_1953-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Mills_1953_21-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1953">Veblen 1953</a>, Introduction by Wright Mills</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-John_Kenneth_Galbraith_1973-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-John_Kenneth_Galbraith_1973_22-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFVeblen1973">Veblen 1973</a>, Introduction by John Kenneth Galbraith</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Heilbroner_2000_?-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Heilbroner_2000_?_23-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHeilbroner2000">Heilbroner 2000</a>.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <dl><dt>Bibliography</dt></dl> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBenchley1919" class="citation news cs1"><a href="/wiki/Robert_Charles_Benchley" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Charles Benchley">Benchley, Robert Charles</a> (April 1919). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.geocities.ws/veblenite/txt/rev_tlc_vanityfair.txt">"The Dullest Book of The Month: Dr. Thorstein Veblen Gets the Crown of Deadly Nightshade"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Vanity_Fair_(American_magazine_1913%E2%80%931936)" title="Vanity Fair (American magazine 1913–1936)">Vanity Fair</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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New York: <a href="/wiki/The_Macmillan_Company" class="mw-redirect" title="The Macmillan Company">The Macmillan Company</a>. <a href="/wiki/LCCN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="LCCN (identifier)">LCCN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lccn.loc.gov/12005177">12005177</a>. <a href="/wiki/OL_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OL (identifier)">OL</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7165754M">7165754M</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class%3A+An+Economic+Study+of+Institutions&rft.place=New+York&rft.edition=New&rft.pub=The+Macmillan+Company&rft.date=1912&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fopenlibrary.org%2Fbooks%2FOL7165754M%23id-name%3DOL&rft_id=info%3Alccn%2F12005177&rft.aulast=Veblen&rft.aufirst=Thorstein&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVeblen1934" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Veblen, Thorstein</a> (1934) [1899]. <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions</i>. Introduction by Stuart Chase. New York: The Modern Library.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class%3A+An+Economic+Study+of+Institutions&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=The+Modern+Library&rft.date=1934&rft.aulast=Veblen&rft.aufirst=Thorstein&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVeblen1953" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Veblen, Thorstein</a> (1953) [1899]. <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions, the Mentor Edition</i>. Introduction by C. Wright Mills. New York: The Macmillan Company.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class%3A+An+Economic+Study+of+Institutions%2C+the+Mentor+Edition&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=The+Macmillan+Company&rft.date=1953&rft.aulast=Veblen&rft.aufirst=Thorstein&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVeblen1973" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Veblen, Thorstein</a> (1973). <i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions</i>. Introduction John Kenneth Galbraith. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-395-14008-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-395-14008-6"><bdi>978-0-395-14008-6</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/665985">665985</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class%3A+An+Economic+Study+of+Institutions&rft.place=Boston%2C+MA&rft.pub=Houghton+Mifflin&rft.date=1973&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F665985&rft.isbn=978-0-395-14008-6&rft.aulast=Veblen&rft.aufirst=Thorstein&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVeblen1994" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Veblen, Thorstein</a> (1994) [1899]. <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/theoryofleisurec0000vebl"><i>The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions</i></a></span>. Penguin twentieth-century classics. Introduction by Robert Lekachman. New York: Penguin Books. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-018795-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-018795-3"><bdi>978-0-14-018795-3</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/31212002">31212002</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class%3A+An+Economic+Study+of+Institutions&rft.place=New+York&rft.series=Penguin+twentieth-century+classics&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=1994&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F31212002&rft.isbn=978-0-14-018795-3&rft.aulast=Veblen&rft.aufirst=Thorstein&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Ftheoryofleisurec0000vebl&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVaughn2001" class="citation journal cs1">Vaughn, Gerald F. (2001). "The Influence of Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class on Rural Sociologist Fred Roy Yoder". <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_of_Economic_Issues" title="Journal of Economic Issues">Journal of Economic Issues</a></i>. <b>35</b> (4): <span class="nowrap">979–</span>993. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00213624.2001.11506423">10.1080/00213624.2001.11506423</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4227726">4227726</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:151841412">151841412</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Economic+Issues&rft.atitle=The+Influence+of+Veblen%27s+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class+on+Rural+Sociologist+Fred+Roy+Yoder&rft.volume=35&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E979-%3C%2Fspan%3E993&rft.date=2001&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A151841412%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F4227726%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1080%2F00213624.2001.11506423&rft.aulast=Vaughn&rft.aufirst=Gerald+F.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVernon1974" class="citation journal cs1">Vernon, Raymond (1974). "<i>The Theory of the Leisure Class</i> by Thorstein Veblen". <i><a href="/wiki/Daedalus_(journal)" title="Daedalus (journal)">Dædalus</a></i>. <b>103</b> (1): <span class="nowrap">53–</span>57. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024186">20024186</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=D%C3%A6dalus&rft.atitle=The+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class+by+Thorstein+Veblen&rft.volume=103&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E53-%3C%2Fspan%3E57&rft.date=1974&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F20024186%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Vernon&rft.aufirst=Raymond&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Theory+of+the+Leisure+Class" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span 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.navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Thorstein_Veblen" title="Template:Thorstein Veblen"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Template_talk:Thorstein_Veblen&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Template talk:Thorstein Veblen (page does not exist)"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Thorstein_Veblen" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Thorstein Veblen"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Thorstein_Veblen46" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen" title="Thorstein Veblen">Thorstein Veblen</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Books</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">The Theory of the Leisure Class</a></i> (1899)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><i><a href="/wiki/The_Theory_of_Business_Enterprise" title="The Theory of Business Enterprise">The Theory of Business Enterprise</a></i> (1904)</span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><i><a href="/wiki/The_Engineers_and_the_Price_System" title="The Engineers and the Price System">The Engineers and the Price System</a></i> (1921)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">Conspicuous consumption</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">Conspicuous leisure</a></span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Miscellaneous</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Institutional_economics" title="Institutional economics">Institutional economics</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Evolutionary_economics" title="Evolutionary economics">Evolutionary economics</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen_Farmstead" title="Thorstein Veblen Farmstead">Thorstein Veblen Farmstead</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Veblen-Commons_Award" title="Veblen-Commons Award">Veblen-Commons Award</a></span></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Veblen_good" title="Veblen good">Veblen good</a></span></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Extreme_wealth113" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Wealth" title="Template:Wealth"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Wealth" title="Template talk:Wealth"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Wealth" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Wealth"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Extreme_wealth113" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Extreme <a href="/wiki/Wealth" title="Wealth">wealth</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Capital_accumulation" title="Capital accumulation">Capital accumulation</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Overaccumulation" title="Overaccumulation">Overaccumulation</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_inequality" title="Economic inequality">Economic inequality</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_distribution" class="mw-redirect" title="Wealth distribution">Wealth distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_distribution" title="Income distribution">Income distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consumption_distribution" title="Consumption distribution">Consumption distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_economic_inequality" title="History of economic inequality">History of economic inequality</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_inequality" title="International inequality">International inequality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elite" title="Elite">Elite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oligarchy" title="Oligarchy">Oligarchy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Overclass" title="Overclass">Overclass</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plutocracy" title="Plutocracy">Plutocracy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plutonomy" title="Plutonomy">Plutonomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Primitive_accumulation_of_capital" title="Primitive accumulation of capital">Primitive accumulation of capital</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Upper_class" title="Upper class">Upper class</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nouveau_riche" title="Nouveau riche"><i>Nouveau riche</i> <wbr />(new money)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_money" title="Old money"><i>Vieux riche</i> <wbr />(old money)</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luxury_goods" title="Luxury goods">Luxury goods</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Veblen_good" title="Veblen good">Veblen goods</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption" title="Conspicuous consumption">Conspicuous consumption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure" title="Conspicuous leisure">Conspicuous leisure</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Luxury_beliefs" class="mw-redirect" title="Luxury beliefs">Luxury beliefs</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">People</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Billionaire" title="Billionaire">Billionaire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Captain_of_industry" title="Captain of industry">Captain of industry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/High-net-worth_individual" title="High-net-worth individual">High-net-worth individual</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ultra_high-net-worth_individual" class="mw-redirect" title="Ultra high-net-worth individual">UHNWI</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magnate" title="Magnate">Magnate</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_magnate" title="Business magnate">Business</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Millionaire" title="Millionaire">Millionaire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oligarchy" title="Oligarchy">Oligarch</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_oligarch" title="Business oligarch">Business</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_oligarchs" title="Russian oligarchs">Russian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ukrainian_oligarchs" title="Ukrainian oligarchs">Ukrainian</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)" title="Robber baron (industrialist)">Robber baron</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Wealth" title="Wealth">Wealth</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_concentration" class="mw-redirect" title="Wealth concentration">Concentration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth" title="Distribution of wealth">Distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dynastic_wealth" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynastic wealth">Dynastic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_effect" title="Wealth effect">Effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geography_and_wealth" title="Geography and wealth">Geography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inheritance" title="Inheritance">Inherited</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_management" title="Wealth management">Management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_wealth" class="mw-redirect" title="National wealth">National</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paper_wealth" title="Paper wealth">Paper</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_and_religion" title="Wealth and religion">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_tax" title="Wealth tax">Tax</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Lists</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_people_by_net_worth" title="Lists of people by net worth">People</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_World%27s_Billionaires" title="The World's Billionaires"><i>Forbes</i> list of billionaires</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_centibillionaires" title="List of centibillionaires">List of centibillionaires</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_female_billionaires" title="List of female billionaires">Female billionaires</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_royalty_by_net_worth" title="List of royalty by net worth">Richest royals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_richest_Americans_in_history" title="List of richest Americans in history">Wealthiest Americans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_families" title="List of wealthiest families">Wealthiest families</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_organizations" class="mw-redirect" title="List of wealthiest organizations">Organizations</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_companies_by_revenue" title="List of largest companies by revenue">Largest companies by revenue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_corporate_profits_and_losses" title="List of largest corporate profits and losses">Largest corporate profits and losses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_public_corporations_by_market_capitalization" title="List of public corporations by market capitalization">Largest corporations by market capitalization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_financial_services_companies_by_revenue" title="List of largest financial services companies by revenue">Largest financial services companies by revenue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_manufacturing_companies_by_revenue" title="List of largest manufacturing companies by revenue">Largest manufacturing companies by revenue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_the_largest_software_companies" title="List of the largest software companies">Largest software companies by revenue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_technology_companies_by_revenue" title="List of largest technology companies by revenue">Largest technology companies by revenue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_charitable_foundations" title="List of wealthiest charitable foundations">Charities</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_philanthropists" title="List of philanthropists">Philanthropists</a></li></ul></li> <li>Universities <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_institutions_of_higher_education_by_endowment_size" title="Lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size">Endowment size</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_universities_by_number_of_billionaire_alumni" title="List of universities by number of billionaire alumni">Number of billionaire alumni</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_cities_by_number_of_billionaires" title="List of cities by number of billionaires">Cities by number of billionaires</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_countries_by_the_number_of_billionaires" class="mw-redirect" title="List of countries by the number of billionaires">Countries by number of billionaires</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth" title="List of countries by total wealth">Countries by total wealth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_wealth_inequality" title="List of sovereign states by wealth inequality">Countries by wealth inequality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States" title="Wealth inequality in the United States">Wealth inequality in the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States" title="Income inequality in the United States">Income inequality in the United States</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_most_expensive_items_by_category" title="Lists of most expensive items by category">Most expensive items</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Lists_of_most_expensive_things" title="Category:Lists of most expensive things">by category</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_animals" title="List of wealthiest animals">Wealthiest animals</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Diseases_of_affluence" title="Diseases of affluence">Diseases of affluence</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affluenza" title="Affluenza">Affluenza</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narcissism#Celebrity_narcissism" title="Narcissism">Acquired situational narcissism</a></li></ul></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_crumenam" title="Argumentum ad crumenam">Argumentum ad crumenam</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prosperity_theology" title="Prosperity theology">Prosperity theology</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Philanthropy" title="Philanthropy">Philanthropy</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_Gospel_of_Wealth" title="The Gospel of Wealth">Gospel of Wealth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge" title="The Giving Pledge">The Giving Pledge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philanthrocapitalism" title="Philanthrocapitalism">Philanthrocapitalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Venture_philanthropy" title="Venture philanthropy">Venture philanthropy</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Sayings</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_rich_get_richer_and_the_poor_get_poorer" title="The rich get richer and the poor get poorer">The rich get richer and the poor get poorer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Socialism_for_the_rich_and_capitalism_for_the_poor" title="Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor">Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Too_big_to_fail" title="Too big to fail">Too big to fail</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Media</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Das_Kapital" title="Das Kapital">Das Kapital</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plutus_(play)" title="Plutus (play)"><i>Plutus</i></a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Plutus" title="Plutus">Greek god of wealth</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Superclass_(book)" title="Superclass (book)"><i>Superclass</i></a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_Superclass_List" title="The Superclass List">List</a></li></ul></li> <li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">The Theory of the Leisure Class</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wealth_(film)" title="Wealth (film)"><i>Wealth</i></a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations" title="The Wealth of Nations">The Wealth of Nations</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Wealth" title="Category:Wealth">Category</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Wealth_by_country" title="Category:Wealth by country">by country</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&oldid=1275881400">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class&oldid=1275881400</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div 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