Late 19th/Early 20th Century · Economist, Sociologist
Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist, a leading intellectual of the Progressive Era. He is best known for his trenchant analysis of the 'leisure class' and his development of institutional economics, which examined how social institutions shape economic behavior. His work critiqued neoclassical economics and capitalist culture with a blend of evolutionary theory, anthropology, and sardonic wit.