The Theory of Business Enterprise [Paperback]

Thorstein Veblen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

Thorstein Veblen was once described by Fortune magazine as "America's most brilliant and influential critic of modern business and the values of a business civilization," and his wisdom and often dry, satiric wit continues to be obvious today. In The Theory of Business Enterprise, first published in 1904, he ravages corporate malfeasance and the greed that was spurring the robber barons of his day. If it all sounds familiar a century later, it's a testament to the timelessness of Veblen's criticisms of the corporate world, the wrongdoings of which today he would readily recognize. Modern readers will appreciate this reintroduction to one of the great economic thinkers. American economist and sociologist THORSTEIN BUNDE VEBLEN (1857-1929) was educated at Carleton College, Johns Hopkins University and Yale University. He coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption." Among his most famous works are The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915), and The Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum (1918).

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

From the Back Cover

Thorstein Veblen was once described by Fortune magazine as "America's most brilliant and influential critic of modern business and the values of a business civilization," and his wisdom and often dry, satiric wit continues to be obvious today.

In The Theory of Business Enterprise, first published in 1904, he ravages corporate malfeasance and the greed that was spurring the robber barons of his day. If it all sounds familiar a century later, it's a testament to the timelessness of Veblen's criticisms of the corporate world, the wrongdoings of which today he would readily recognize. Modern readers will appreciate this reintroduction to one of the great economic thinkers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596052392
• ISBN-13: 978-1596052390
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,883,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Econ Class Review, April 29, 2004

By 

"m_fessler" (Olathe, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Theory of Business Enterprise (Hardcover)

JMJ IHM

Thorstein Veblen gives a very detailed, logical account of the business enterprise as he saw it in the 1900's. He places an emphasis on the individual buisness man, the powers he holds and what he can accomplish with those powers, as well as his effect on the economic and social community as a whole. He looks at the world community as it enters into the industrial age, dominated by what he calls the "machine process." He places intense importance on the subject of machines and how they relate to business enterprise. His Theory is very well-written and comprehensive, linking all aspects of his thought together in an organized, essay-like book.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Roots of Corporate Excess, June 26, 2006

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Theory of Business Enterprise (Paperback)

I recently reread Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of Business Enterprise. To my amazement, the book is more relevant today than when I first read during my college days

Published in 1904, the book expands the author's view that business organization was incompatible with making money. The industrial system, he argues, requires men to be diligent, efficient, and cooperative. On the other hand, those who rule it are overly concerned with making and spending money.

Personally, I have grown tired of hearing today's executives call for a renewal of a corporate entrepreneurial spirit. Meanwhile, their employment contracts guarantee bonuses keyed to meaningless metrics, access to one or more corporate jets, gross-ups and "uber"-luxury car leases. Their rhetoric sounds as short-sighted as Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake."

Coining the phrase "conspicuous consumer," Veblen revealed the roots of these excesses more than a century ago. Writing about the robber barons of his day, he ravaged the greed and corporate malfeasance in his books.

Educated at Carleton College, Johns Hopkins University and Yale University had a short teaching career as a lecturer at the University of Missouri and a subsidized position at the New School for Social Research.

Veblen's reputation reached its pinnacle during The Great Depression. Often viewed as a political radical or socialist, Veblen committed himself to any form of political action.

Eerily relevant today, "The Theory of Business Enterprise" earned him a deserved reputation as a social critic that extends far beyond his limited academic roots.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Text, April 20, 2008

By 

Jon Thomas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Theory of Business Enterprise (Paperback)

I read a fair amount of Veblen on the side as an undergraduate over 35 years ago. I did this during a very anti-War and anti-establishment time that meshed neatly with my own attitudes during that period. Recently, I thought I would go back and re-read some of his works--including this one. I was surprised. His descriptions of the financial foibles of Wall Street and American industry of the early 20th and late 19th century are startlingly similar to what we see today. The same tendency towards excessive leveraging existed back then (1904 publication) as it does today. It would truly seem that the old adage that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This homely insight could also be applied to good effect concerning military adventures by future US administrations. For some reason, I doubt that it will be the present one....

Veblen is his most wickedly funny and insightful as a critic. His views of captains of industry and the politicians who are effectively bought by them are as pertinent today as they were back them. He was a superb economic and social diagnostician.

The area that he seems to be weakest in, in retrospective, is his prescription for the ill patient. He romanticized the "machine process" and the "engineer", only to be eventually disappointed. Technocracy was a movement that he flirted with for awhile, but given the fact that engineers and technical people are every bit as flawed as the rest of humanity, was bound to fail him as well.

I wonder what he would have thought of FDR if he had lived another 10 years. I like to think that he would have embraced the type of social democracy that Roosevelt represented. But then again, he enjoyed playing the iconoclastic outsider. The brilliant wit who loved nothing more than tearing into the pretensions and frauds of those that have come to rule. ... He was one of a kind and hopefully will not be forgotten for a very long time. It's unfortunate that he is not studied more in schools. He has much of value to offer. Not the least of which is to question the established authority as opposed to bowing down and kissing its ring.