ABSTRACT
Mainstream economists are of several minds regarding Veblen’s The Theory of the Leisure Class . Few, however, would hesitate in mentioning Veblen’s contribution of such evocative terms as “conspicuous consumption,” “conspicuous emulation,” “pecuniary culture,” “vicarious consumption,” and “the leisure class” to the language of economics. Though little noted, and not yet celebrated, important improvements in demand theory have emanated from The Theory of the Leisure Class (hereafter TLC). Since the enduring Veblenian contributions to our language are related to consumption, it is hardly surprising that even the mainstream has ratified Veblen with “Veblen effects.” Several of the author’s phrases have resurfaced in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, greatly elevating their stature. Three lengthy Veblen quotations made the 1980 edition, all from TLC. Notable for the task at hand, all the quotations are relevant to demand theory at both the micro and macro levels. Their worthiness bears reprinting: the first, “Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.” The second, slightly longer, is “With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of the economic motives proper.” Bartlett’s devotes even greater space to the third citation.
The requirement of conspicuous wastefulness is not commonly present, consciously, in our canons of taste, but it is none the less present as a constraining norm selectively shaping and sustaining our sense of what is beautiful, and guiding our discrimination with respect to what may legitimately be approved as beautiful and what may not. 1
