On Thu, Nov 6, 2025 at 04:39 PM, Mark Baugher wrote: > > Veblen's Institutional Economics seemed to flourish during periods of > political reaction
I have a soft spot for Institutional Economics, more so for John R. Commons and John Maurice Clark. A bit also for John Kenneth Galbraith. Although Veblen was an economist and influence Institutional Economics, I really think of him as more of an amateur sociologist/anthropologist who, in his time, was way outclassed by Simmel. Some current day Institutionalists are "Marx adjacent" and some may even be undercover fellow travelers. Adorno in his 1941 essay really nailed the essence of Veblen's undialectical radicalism. Veblen wrote as if you just had to jettison the "bad stuff" as if the good stuff that came along with the bad stuff would stay. But people are attached to the bad stuff precisely because the really do want the good stuff that came with it. I know all about the waste of private car ownership and carbon emissions and I don't own a car but I still enjoy the convenience of driving a car share car and I can understand how many people feel they couldn't live without owning a car. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39149): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39149 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116161664/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
