The Theory of the Leisure Class

Professor Veblen’s book, first published in 1899 is a sharp critique of the wealth elite of the Gilded Age. In abstract academic prose, which drips with sarcastic venom, he describes the wealthy as a holdover from humanity’s barbaric past. He uses few examples to back up his theory, relying on the common knowledge of his contemporary readers, but when he does it’s truly enlightening.

For example, in his chapter on “Modern Survivals of Prowess” he uses the example of an upper-class gentleman who carries a walking stick for show, and not as an aid to waking.

The walking-stick serves the purpose of an advertisement that the bearer’s hands are employed otherwise than in useful effort, and it therefore has utility as an evidence show more of leisure. But it is also a weapon, and it meets a felt need of barbarian man on that ground. The handling of so tangible and primitive a means of offense is very comforting to any one who is gifted with even a moderate share of ferocity. –pages 172-173 (in this edition)

He goes on to explain why this mindset, although it may be economically useful to the individual, is detrimental to the general population as a whole.

The two barbarian traits, ferocity and astuteness, go to make up the predaceous temper or spiritual attitude. They are the expressions of a narrowly self-regarding habit of mind. Both are highly serviceable for individual expediency in a life looking for invidious success. Both also have a high aesthetic value. Both are fostered by the pecuniary culture. But both alike are of no use for the purpose of the collective life. Page 179

In addition to the wealthy, he also eviscerates “conspicuous consumption,” athletics, religion, luck, and forms of higher education which have no practical application. As a result, his dry, droll prose, even if the reader does not agree with him, is hilarious to read, or to others infuriating. I loved it. show less

If you want to understand American society and can only read one book, this is the book to read. Veblen introduces the concepts of conspicuous consumption, which we all know, but more importantly, he describes what he calls conspicuous leisure which explains everything from wine snobbery, foodie-ism and designer clothes, to elaborate Powerpoint graphics and English butlers. The analysis is trenchant and is as applicable to our new gilded age as it was to the original one in which the book was written. I've read the book several times and each reading produces a new aha moment.

Being European and therefore inclined to laziness, I returned from my holiday to home and office with the certainty that I was ready to join the ranks of the leisure class. Idleness is the parent of vice, but the occasional book review here would keep me sufficiently occupied.

I am afraid Mr. Veblen’s book did not really bring me the theory that I was looking for. In pompous language, Mr. Veblen basically declares that all man is ever interested in is showing off his status vis-à-vis his fellow creatures. He/she does so by as much conspicuous consumption as he/she can possibly afford. And this does not require the use of a credit card: housekeeping, pets, sports, banking, management, religion, and every other activity that is not show more about creating the bare necessities of late 1800’s life is considered “leisure”. Sometimes this leads to wonderful sweeping statements like this one:

The lawyer is exclusively occupied with the details of predatory fraud, either in achieving or in checkmating chicane, and success in the profession is therefore accepted as marking a large endowment of that barbarian astuteness which has always commanded men’s respect and fear.

But do Mr. Veblen’s extremely Puritanical theories make sense in the 21st century? Modern science confirms that people are very aware of their status relative to others, and are willing to spend hundreds of euros extra to show off a bag with the right label tagged to it. But the economy has grown increasingly complex, and few people will still accept Mr. Veblen’s definition of “leisure”. Nor does this book make sense as a study of happiness. Modern research shows that status is just one factor that defines happiness, including such things as a secure environment, a balanced distribution of income in a society, and a trade off between purchasing power and leave from work. Therefore I would recommend this book only to students of Mr. Veblen’s day and age. Others I would like to suggest Stefan Klein’s The Science of Happiness, which contains chapters on the effect of wealth and income distribution, substantiated by footnotes. show less

Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class is a "Famous Classic of Economic Thought" according to the front of this fifty year old paperback. It was originally published in America in 1899, and has been in print ever since, as it is indeed a classic, for at least two reasons: Firstly, it is a very insightful work that explains a lot of what initially appear from an economic perspective to be irrational acts. Secondly, it is written in an unusual style that is highly satiric, yet retains no ambiguity in its theoretical points like other ironic works often do. This makes it fairly entertaining in places for such a serious academic work.
Though you might not have heard of this book before (I hadn't, but I'm not an economist), you are show more likely to be familiar with at least one of the two main concepts that it coins – Conspicuous Consumption, and Conspicuous Leisure. Together these initially appear to be paradoxical in economic terms, however the author provides convincing economic, social and pyschological explanations for their existence, and why they typically manifest in certain forms. These two concepts have great power in explaining scoial behaviour through the ages, and throughout society, not just among the leisure class (though this is where they are most obvious). When viewed with some detatchment, what results from these two diriving forces is often ridiculuous behaviour, of which many historical and modern examples could be provided. As well as the more obviously ridiculous examples (such as fish knives and stretch Limousines), the effect of these forces permeate society right into the mundane and everyday items and conventions that we take for granted. This is not to say that what originated for the reasons of social status, has not persisted for other reasons such as aesthetics, and it is acknowledged here that the purposes of conspicuous consumption and leisure rarely work alone but are often joined by other motivations.
All the essentials of the theory, and its more interesting implications are contained in the first 7 chapters (roughly the first half of the book), while the remainder could largely be skipped as it goes into a lot of trivialities that the reader could infer from what they had read in the first half. Also chapter 9 is largely useless due to its basis on an out-of-date and often wrong understanding of biological inheritance of traits.
Aside from these few complaints this is surely a very important work for economists to read, and probably of large interest to a proportion of the general intellectual readership due to the vast applicability of its therories throughout modern culture. In fact, despite a lot of the theory being based on American society 120 years ago, much of what is said is true in greater degree today than it was then, and not in America alone but across the world. This is easily appreciated by the way recent trends in social media (Facebook, Instagram etc) have amplified the ease, reach and extent of the conspicuoulsy consuming and taking leisure. A modern book on this could hardly better expose the vanity and vacuity of these trends than what is said here, which is huge credit to the insight of Veblen. show less

Amusingly dated in some respects and disturbingly relevant in others, this book is full of engaging ideas and dry humor. So I am at a loss to explain why I could rarely make it through more than five pages at a time without starting to fall asleep. I think that the lack of a scholarly apparatus, rather than making the writing more accessible, actually made it more monotonous to me. It's a nice addition to the intellectual toolkit, and I don't regret reading it, but I plan to make my next read something less soporific.

Overambitious, arrogant, almost offensively Darwinian in its discussion of institutions, but nonetheless insightful and fun. (lol Veblen)

I'm not versed in economic theory, so I was worried about making it through this one, but it ended up being extremely readable. It's a bit flat to read in long marathon sessions instead of a chapter here and there, but Veblen does a good job of balancing much needed explanation with more technical discussions of terminology and historical development. At times, there's some repetition, but for the most part it's necessary (at least for a layperson like myself). It's dry at times, but at other times it's a bit horrifying, especially when you realize that much of Veblen's discussion can apply to our society, despite the passage of time.

In the end, I do recommed this if you're interested in American History or the economic drives behind show more society and societal norms--at times, it really is frightening how on target Veblen's analysis seems in the connections he makes. show less