Abstract
The nation’s recent experience with war and economic crisis would hardlyshock Thorstein Veblen. America’s most original radical voice, Veblen has much to teach us about the common predatory origins of war and finance and the tragic consequences of their pursuit. This brief survey of the contemporary relevance of Veblen’s observations about war and economic collapse emphasizes the political foundation of his critical theory. Though widely regarded as an economic thinker, Veblen’s critique of modern business enterprise and its alliance with government rests on an essentially political dissection of what he termed barbaric exploit, the ancient root of war, power politics, the state, and latter day financial conquest. For Veblen, barbarism did not end with the coming of liberal democracy, rule of law or capitalism; its habits of exploit, waste and destruction go marching on.
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Further Reading
Diggins, J. P. 1999. Theorist of the leisure class. Princeton: Princeton University.
Knoedler, J. K., Prasch, R. E., & Chaplain, D. P. (Eds.). 2007. Thorstein Veblen and the revival of free market capitalism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Tilman, R. 1992. Thorstein Veblen and his critics, 1891-1963. Princeton: Princeton University.
Veblen, T. 1917. An inquiry into the nature of peace and the terms of its perpetuation. New York: MacMillan (NOP).
Veblen, T. 1919. The vested interests and the common man. New York: Viking (VICM).
Veblen, T. 1954 [1915]. Imperial Germany and the industrial revolution. Introduction by Joseph Dorfman. New York: Viking.
Veblen, T. 1964. The instinct of workmanship and the irksomeness of labor. In L. Ardzrooni (Ed.), Essays in our changing order. New York: Augustus Kelley. 0riginal essay published 1898) (ECO.
Veblen, T. 1977 [1923]. Absentee ownership, business enterprise in recent times: The case of America. With a new introduction by Marion J. Levy, Jr. New Brunswick: Transaction. AO.
Veblen, T. 1978 [1904]. The theory of business enterprise. With a new introduction by Douglas Dowd. New Brunswick: Transaction. TBE.
Veblen, T. 1979 [1899]. The theory of the leisure class. Introduction by Robert Lekachman. New York: Penguin. TLC.
Veblen, T. 1990 [1914]. The instinct of workmanship and the state of the industrial arts. With a new Introduction by Murray G. Murphey. New Brunswick: Transaction. IOW.