The Theory Of Business Enterprise Thorstein Veblen 9781544264745 Books
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The Theory of Business Enterprise is an economics book by Thorstein Veblen published in 1904 that looks at the growing corporate domination of culture and the economy. At its heart The Theory of Business Enterprise is an analysis of two intertwined but clashing motivations; that of business and that of industry. Business is the making of profits. Industry (or the "machine process") is the making of goods. "The captains of industry" (capitalists or "Robber Barons") curtailed production in order to keep prices and profits high. The worst fears of businessmen was a "free run of production" which would essentially collapse all profits. Veblen's book was published at a high point of American concern with business combinations and trusts. Veblen employed his evolutionary analysis to explain these new forms. Veblen placed the large business concerns in the context of the increasing industrialization of American life. Veblen asserted that even though there is a commercial need for industry, the machine process has outrun commercial needs and has penetrated every corner of mechanical industries. This process is characterized by the obligation for standardization, certainty and quantitative accuracy and precision.
The Theory Of Business Enterprise Thorstein Veblen 9781544264745 Books
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Tags : The Theory Of Business Enterprise [Thorstein Veblen] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Theory of Business Enterprise is an economics book by Thorstein Veblen published in 1904 that looks at the growing corporate domination of culture and the economy. At its heart The Theory of Business Enterprise is an analysis of two intertwined but clashing motivations; that of business and that of industry. Business is the making of profits. Industry (or the machine process ) is the making of goods. The captains of industry (capitalists or Robber Barons ) curtailed production in order to keep prices and profits high. The worst fears of businessmen was a free run of production which would essentially collapse all profits. Veblen's book was published at a high point of American concern with business combinations and trusts. Veblen employed his evolutionary analysis to explain these new forms. Veblen placed the large business concerns in the context of the increasing industrialization of American life. Veblen asserted that even though there is a commercial need for industry,Thorstein Veblen,The Theory Of Business Enterprise,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1544264747,General,PHILOSOPHY General,Philosophy
The Theory Of Business Enterprise Thorstein Veblen 9781544264745 Books Reviews
It's a classic philosophy/economic text. Veblen is not easy to read at first, but he's worth the struggle.
A fascinating book that has a uniquely American perspective and perhaps more relevant today than when it was written.
As good as Theory of the Leasure Class
More great stuff by Veblen.
Fairly easy to read and straightforward.
This is a must read classic about the effects of the "Machine Process"
and the industrial economy on modern society.
Love reading this guys books.
This is an exceptional book. By reading it, is like taking the "red pill" and you start to see the matrix of the global economy in its full riality. If you dare read it. Your mind will change once and for all.
Theory of Business Enterprise is on my list of must reads. It was revolutionary when written and is still highly relevant today. Agree or disagree, it is a must read for those trying to understand our current economy.
Veblen is repetitive, but most informative. I would and do highly recommend to others.
I admit I've only made it to page 103 (that's a little over half way through) as I write this review. My excuse is that I've reading it concurrently with my second reading of Wm. Gaddis' novel, "JR," a long and challenging read, even the second time. But the two books fit together wonderfully well, I think. Veblen could have been writing about Enron, Tyco or MCI, he's so up to date -- even one hundred years later. But I've also wondered whether Veblen purposely mimicked the prose style of "Democritus Junior" the putative author of the 17th century "Anatomy of Melancholy." That said, I want to mention that the Cosimo Classics edition of "The Theory of Business Enterprise" seems to be an exact facsimile of my 1958 Mentor mass-market format paperback, which bears a cover price of 50 cents. Although the margins are a little wider in the Cosimo Classics edition, the text is the same exact size, the pagination is identical and at least one printer's error (an omission of the word "the" on page 71, about halfway down) has persisted. But it's well worth the effort to read it and I'm looking forward to finding the patience to finish the last 90 pages.
The title sounds strange. Most people would think that profit means efficiency. You have to be efficient to make a profit. That all sounds nice, but lets suppose everybody buys an ice cream on a cone a day for $1.00. Now all of a sudden there is enough ice cream for people to buy two cones per day. For them to be able to sell you more they have to lower the price. You'll buy one a day for $1.00, at 70 cents a cone you'll buy two. So sometimes the greater the output, the lower your price is per unit of that output, and therefore the lower your profit sometimes. To this issue Veblen explained all the other factors relevant to this scenario. Sometimes an exaltation will happen. This means people will buy more from a particular business and will pay higher prices.
Because people are willing to pay higher prices, the business is later willing to pay higher wages and other higher costs. Then all of a sudden the business' competitors start to increase output of that particular good, the price goes back down, but the business has locked itself into paying higher wages by contract, even though prices are back to where they were. This squeeze in profit puts them out of business. Other factors include the credit economy. Businesses need to borrow, and some businesses have investors and creditors. With a profit squeeze, these people may decide its not worth keeping the business going. Veblen explained that businesses go through an exaltation, where things go well, more volume higher prices. With competitors, that exaltation turns into a depression, where prices go back down, but costs have risen, and these costs are written in contract.
And then of course if the profit squeeze is big enough, and long enough, people may decide to liquidate the business. On this point investors are more patient, they know that liquidation costs will affect their investment negatively. These points are all explained in his first 7 chapters. Let's not forget Veblen put anthropology into economics. He saw the handicraft era and the industrial era. In the handicraft era you had your own land, and you were self made. You could make pottery or farm goods. And that is where private property had value. However in the machine era, you are one of many people working for an organisation. You have a defined role, and a specific set of tasks. In the machine era their was a place for trade unions. However, the right to contract and the right to private property, is the thing standing in the way of progress. Veblen therefore saw private property as obsolete in the way of evolutionary process. In fact Veblen agreed with Marx about private property, religion and the traditional family. However he saw this change coming about in a different way. That as people worked in the factory, their social norms would change, and they would see the old social norms as obsolete and irrelevant, therefore there is no need for a violent revolution.
I'm not of the view that the family or religion is obsolete, however this is his view, and sometimes we can learn something by seeing things from the other person's point of view. Finally, he did say a few things similiar to Keynes, before Keynes became well known. He borrowed some ideas from JA Hobson who explained it is possible for a business to overproduce, where the consumption isn't high enough, and sometimes government spending is necessary to keep a business going. Also going back to Marx, Marx saw things from the point of view of the Hegelian dialectic, whereas Veblen saw the evolutionary process as reality.
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