The Theory of the Leisure Class

The Theory of the Leisure Class is a book, first published in 1899, by the American economist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago.

Criticism

While few observers deny the practice of emulation and conspicuous consumption, there is considerable debate over what luxuries and practices can be labeled as such. Part of the problem is that Theory does not comprehensively define it. As H.L. Mencken sarcastically remarked:

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:Do I enjoy a decent bath because I know that John Smith cannot afford one - or because I delight in being clean? Do I admire Beethoven's Fifth Symphony because it is incomprehensible to Congressmen and Methodists - or because I genuinely love music? Do I prefer terrapin à la Maryland to fried liver because plowhands must put up with the liver - or because the terrapin is intrinsically a more charming dose? Do I prefer kissing a pretty girl to kissing a charwoman because even a janitor may kiss a charwoman - or because the pretty girl looks better, smells better and kisses better? (Mencken, "Professor Veblen," from Prejudices, First Series, 1919).

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In other words, what some people define as "wastes of money", others define as "enjoyable luxuries", and these tastes often differ depending on the individual, as seen by the activities Veblen named above. For example, Mencken considered golf to be conspicuous leisure; a dedicated golf player would no doubt disagree (Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, Nov. 9, 1948).

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Attempts to universally define conspicious consumption are often attacked as being elitist, most notably Herbert Marcuse's suggestions (which involve a supposedly-higher-educated group being given the power to define which items are luxuries, and which aren't).

Related Topics:
Elitist - Herbert Marcuse

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Nonetheless, there have been attempts to objectively define universal expressions of conspicious consumption. One way is to look for so-called Veblen goods, which are defined as goods whose desirability decreases with their price and availability, and that this effect will be stronger in more "socially visible" goods than in goods consumed privately.

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Some studies (Chao & Schor, 1998, Empirical tests of status consumption: Evidence from women's cosmetics. Journal of Economic Psychology, 19, 107-131) support this conclusion.

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