The Engineers and the Price System [Paperback]

Thorstein Veblen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

One of the great thinkers of the early 20th century, American economist and sociologist THORSTEIN BUNDE VEBLEN (1857-1929) is best remembered for coining the phrase "conspicuous consumption." But he also, in this 1921 volume, foresaw the rise of the scientist and the technologist as an economic power. Here, he explains... . the conflict between the entrepreneur and the engineer . the new power of the technological craftsman in the industrial scheme . why any "revolution" in America would come from organized labor . and more. ALSO FROM COSIMO: Veblen's The Vested Interests and the Common Man, The Theory of Business Enterprise, Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution, An Inquiry into the Nature of Peace and the Terms of Its Perpetuation, and The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the Industrial Arts

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) was perhaps the most famous American economist and social critic of his time. He taught at the universities of Chicago and Missouri, Stanford University, and the New School for Social Research.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596058927
• ISBN-13: 978-1596058927
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PLEASE READ THORSTEN VEBLEN!!, December 17, 2007

By 

curt dilger (phila usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Engineers and the Price System (Paperback)

Thorsten Veblen writes like a turn of the century lawyer with a snide, subtle, and wicked anger he humorously avoids concealing. His vision of American culture is so sound, so prescient, and so deeply irreverential towards all we hold dear, and he has much to teach us. I read this book because the introduction to The Technological Society, by Jacques Ellul says this book is better. Also because I've been dazzled by Veblen's other works Conspicuous Consumption and The Theory of the Leisure Class. This book, originally published in 1919 or thereabouts, is witnessing the nascent Soviet Union from afar, and the corporate corruption, stilled and consolidated into the Federal Reserve, up close. He sees the wealthy status quo as irrelevant saboteurs (the first chapter defines this term, with his characteristic scrupulosity)to the vital economic health of the country, and decries the advent of corporate takeover. He proposes a 'Soviet of Technicians' which the more optimistic of us could claim as a prediction of the rise of the Sciences in America during the twentieth century. However the final chapter is interpreted in retrospect, it is nonetheless an important commentary about the dynamics between capital and technology during the turn of the century. The bitter anger of his repeated use of the term, just yet, says a lot about his laconic and profound turn of mind. Please, materialists, read Mr. Veblen and find your way out!!!