American Economist Thorstein Veblen

Veblen's childhood was instrumental in shaping much of his philosophy later in life. Born in Wisconsin in 1857, Veblen spent much of his life in cultural isolation on his family's farm. Both parents were Norwegian immigrants whose lifestyle was based on the patterns of their rural homes in Norway. The Veblen family's neighbors were likewise of Scandinavian origin, and young Veblen had little contact with the English-speaking world. Essentially, Veblen "grew up as a Norwegian" (Seckler, 1975, p. 24).

When Veblen was 8, the family moved to a farming community in Minnesota that was even more intensely Norwegian than his birthplace in Wisconsin. The main contact that the Norwegian community had with the outside world was, unfortunately, in the form of unprincipled merchants, swindlers, and land speculators. They preyed on the naivete of the immigrant population: "In Minnesota the Veblens encountered similar troubles with land speculators and money lenders" (Diggins, 1978, p. 34). The immigrants held little hope of retribution through the legal system because few of them were well acquainted enough with the law to seek remedies.

At 17, Veblen was sent to nearby Carleto

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itical problems, and tinkered with a few inventions, he was largely unproductive. As one of Veblen's brothers put it, "He read and loafed, and then the next day he loafed and read" (Diggins, 1978, p. 36). In 1888, Veblen married Ellen Role, the daughter of a well-to-do Iowa farmer. Role had been a former classmate at Carleton. Both she and Veblen were avid readers, and one of the books which had a profound effect on the two of them was Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward: "Veblen's development of the themes of 'conspicuous consumption,' of the conflict of interest between the businessman and the community, and his examination of the disutility of labour, bear a close resemblance to Bellamy's earlier, brilliant work" (Seckler, 1975, p. 29). Failing to obtain a teaching position, Veblen once again enrolled as a student, obtaining a fellowship at Cornell in 1891. Through a college professor at Cornell, Veblen obtained his first job, as a lecturer in economics at the University of Chicago. Veblen was 35 at the time. In addition to his duties as a lecturer, Veblen also served as editor, reviewer and contributor to the Journal of Political Economy. Veblen remained at the University of Chicago for 14 years, mainly through the int
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