Veblen Reconsidered

A mong fellow economists, Veblen’s reputation over the years has ranged from low to ambiguous. A few years before his death in 1929, he rejected nomination for president of the American Economic Association on the ground that the recognition came insultingly late. During his professional career, neoclassical economics of the variety exemplified by Veblen’s Carleton College teacher John Bates Clark dominated departments of economics in reputable institutions of higher learning. For...