ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 delves into Veblen’s vision of economic policy, in which the pecuniary nature of institutions makes the capitalist system incapable of self-adjusting to a full employment social welfare. The analysis underlines the significance of Veblen’s ‘financial macro-sociology’ for understanding the adaptation process of economic policy-making to predatory and emulation instincts. Veblen accentuates the necessity of building institutional processes to promote the instinct of workmanship so as to exercise enduring developmental influence over the realms of finance, technology, industry and economic policy. Institutional reforms are necessary to build a more stable and humane capitalist order. The elimination of wasteful consumption, intangible investment and pecuniary efficiency has need of fiscal and monetary policy interventions, distributional changes and habits of thought that activate productive expenditures and advance employment and community’s prosperity.
