Thorstein Veblen and His Critics, 1891-1963: Conservative, Liberal, and Radical Perspectives

379 Pages·1992·12.706 MB·English

by  Rick Tilman

THORSTEIN VEBLEN
AND HIS CRITICS, 1891-1963

THORSTEIN VEBLEN
AND HIS CRITICS, 1891-1963
C O N S E R V A T I V E , L I B E R A L ,
A N D R A D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S
RICKT ILMAN
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1992 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Oxford
AD Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tilman, Rick.
Thorstein Veblen and his critics, 1891-1963 / conservative,
liberal, and radical perspectives / Rick Tilman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-04286-1
1. Veblen, Thorstein, 1857-1929.
2. Economics—United States—History. I. Title.
HB119.V4T55 1991 33o'.o92—dc20 91-21134 CIP
This book has been composed in Linotron Primer
Princeton University Press books are
printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines
for permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
To my grandfather,
the late Arthur Yelland (1892-1971),
and my father and mother,
Lee R. and Noma J. Tilman.
NevacLans all.

CONTENTS
FOREWORD ix
PREFACE XV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix
CHAPTER ONE
Veblen: The Man and His Critics 3
CHAPTER TWO
Conservative Critics: The Early Period 18
CHAPTER THREE
Conservative Critics: The Chicagoites 47
CHAPTER FOUR
Conservative Critics: The Religious Assault 71
CHAPTER FIVE
Liberal Critics: The Progressives 88
CHAPTER SIX
Liberal Critics: The Institutionalists 114
CHAPTER SEVEN
Liberal Critics: The Neoinstitutionalists 153
CHAPTER EIGHT
Liberal Critics: Harvard and Columbia Style 163
CHAPTER NINE
Radical Critics: The Frankfurt School 190
CHAPTER TEN
Radical Critics: The Monthly Review 206
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Radical Critics: Marxism, Trotskyism,
and Social Democracy 234
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Ideological Use and Abuse of Thorstein Veblen 259
NOTES 287
ARCHIVES CONSULTED 345
INDEX 351

FOREWORD
T
HORSTEIN VEBLEN (1857-1929) aw s arguably the most
original and penetrating economist and social critic that the
nU ited States has produced. Hisa nalyses dealt iwth fundamen­
tal social mores ; fundamental social , economic , and political proc­
esses ;and the fundamental belief system that underlies indiivdual be­
haivor ,public policy ,and social science analysis. A critic of the marek t
economy ash e found it deev loping at the endo f the nineteenth and the
beginning of the tew ntieth centuries and of the ideas of economico r­
thodoyx in the form and iwth the content then characteristic of the
discipline , Veblen aw s one of the first to identify and emphasiez the
emergence of the modern corporationa , nd thereby the corporate sys­
tem ,as a principal mode of economico rganiaz tion and control. He aw s
one of the principal prehermeneutica nalysts of the preconceptions
that lay behind all thought and analysis ,heid entified statuse mulation
as a driivng force in economic affairs ,proivded the language iwth such
terms as conspicuous consumption, pecuniary versus industrial em­
,tnemyolp and sutats ,noitalumeand aw s an intellectual ally of the
philosopher oJ hn eD ew y. He aw s a founder of institutional economics ,
the leading non-aM rixan school of economic heterodoyx in the nU ited
States.
As an institutionalist ,for many the institutionalist , Veblen empha­
siez d that the economy could be , and in fact is most meaningfully ,
comprehended in holistic terms and aasn eov livng process. The econ­
omy is a nonteleological process ofu nfolding seuq ence ehx ibiting on­
going cumulatiev causation. It is a comple xof institutions ,understood
as habits of thought anda s neither sacrosanct nor ontologicallyg iev n.
It is an arena of conflict. Aboev all ,it is something that could best udied
adeuq ately only if one could someho w transcend the self-perceptions
and self-rationaliaz tions that ,ensconced in culture ,come to dominate
the mind-sets of indiivduals and hw ole populations.
The centerpiece of the neoclassical conceptioonf ho w the economy
ow rsk aw s orthodo x av lue theory. Veblens' critiuq e centered on his
denial of the rationality assumption. He argued that people ew re not
l"ightning calculators of pleasures or pains ,hw o o[ scillate ]liek a homo­
geneous globule of desire of happiness under the impulse of stimuli
that shift t[ hem ] about the area , but leaev t[ hem ]intact. "He belieev d
that people ew re driev n by habits and custom andb y hw ateev r consti­
tuted achieev ment in the currently reigning system of status emula­
tion. Veblen belieev d that marginal utility analysis , indeed the entire