Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution

by Thorstein Veblen

Published at the beginning of World War I, this 1915 collection brings together thirty years of writings on the social and economic conditions that brought the Germany into global conflict. He considers the ancient origins of the German people, their historic conflict with England, and the economic policy of the imperial state.

Genres: History, Germany

348 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 1939

About the author

Thorstein (born 'Torsten') Bunde Veblen was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist. He was famous as a witty critic of capitalism.

Veblen is famous for the idea of "conspicuous consumption". Conspicuous consumption, along with "conspicuous leisure", is performed to demonstrate wealth or mark social status. Veblen explains the concept in his best-known book, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). Within the history of economic thought, Veblen is considered the leader of the institutional economics movement. Veblen's distinction between "institutions" and "technology" is still called the Veblenian dichotomy by contemporary economists.

As a leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, Veblen attacked production for profit. His emphasis on conspicuous consumption greatly influenced the socialist thinkers who sought a non-Marxist critique of capitalism.