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But why is it called a Veblen good? I’m so glad you asked!

Veblen goods are named after Thorstein Veblen, a Norwegian-born American economist who wrote around the turn of the 20th century. Veblen was a heterodox economist who critiqued capitalism from an angle that was not Marxist, but definitely complemented Marx’s analysis.

Veblen noted the existence of Veblen goods in his broader study of what he coined “conspicuous consumption” by the “leisure class,” two terms we owe to him.

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