Veblen
- Posted by admin on May 6th, 2008 filed in economics
In 1899 Thorstein Veblen, an American economist, wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class where the phrases “conspicuous consumption” and “conspicuous leisure” were first coined [1]. Conspicuous consumption is the waste of money to display social status, what is known as “keeping up with the Joneses” [2]. Conspicuous leisure is the waste of both time and money for the same purpose [3]. There are very few who have not, at one time or another, been guilty of such conspicuousness or would deny that they enjoyed the acts of such wastefulness thoroughly *. Classical economics and common sense tell us that both time and money are scarce resources that should be used wisely [4]. In economics, the term “externality” is used to describe outside effects that are not immediately visible when a purchase or sale is made [5] **.
This column, in the coming weeks, will discuss the resources, readily available, that can assist in informed choice. This will be done, in so far as practical, within the framework of the Green Party Principles [6], the Party’s Programme for Government [7], an island of Ireland context [8] and a West of Ireland and Galwegian bias *** [9, 10]. This column is deeply pro-educational [11], in all its various guises, and seeks to promote reaction, thought and where appropriate, a little bit of action ****. It is hoped that a little bit of information may go a long way and your informed choices will result in more conspicuous leisure time enjoying the company of family and friends and your conspicuous consumption will be a little less conspicuous and will include positive externalities for you, the planet and for generations to come. Veblen would be proud…
Notes:
* This depends on your luck really - if you are reading this while eating a double-chocolate cake in Alicante your opinion toward conspicuous leisure may be coloured in one direction, this will remain true right up to the point where you discover the rat’s tail in the middle of it…
** The rat’s tail would be a negative externality of eating a dodgy chocolate cake, your subsequent decision to never eat high-calorie junk food again a positive one.
*** These should be the major biases upon this column leans, except, of course, a deep disdain for rats.
**** Don’t stress, this does not imply a call-to-arms; more along the lines of, use your car less, watch less TV, learn to cook with fresh ingredients and smile at your neighbours. (Yes, even the one who won’t let you use the “shared” washing line, whom you secretly suspect is a modern day demon come to torment you. In fact, particularly her.)
Conspicuous Consumption, but can we eat it too?
A delicious chocolate cake - thanks to ulterior epicure [12]
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class, accessed 2 May 2008
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption, accessed 2 May 2008
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_leisure, accessed 2 May 2008
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarcity, accessed 2 May 2008
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality, accessed 2 May 2008
6. http://www.greenparty.ie/en/about, accessed 2 May 2008
7. http://www.greenparty.ie/government/agreed_programme_for_government, accessed 2 May 2008
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland, accessed 2 May 2008
9. http://www.discoverireland.ie/west.aspx, accessed 2 May 2008
10. http://www.galway.net/, accessed 2 May 2008
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education, accessed 2 May 2008
12. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/595818443/, accessed 2 May 2008
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