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Veblen made a lesser known but much more important contribution to our understanding of the economy. He noted that capitalist enterprise falls into two broad categories, industry and business. While we colloquially think of these two things are part of the same phenomenon, Veblen recognized that there were two separate and antagonistic processes ongoing in capitalism.

Industry is the process by which we make stuff to satisfy needs. It is a cooperative social process, the effort to satisfy needs as efficiently as possible. Its goal is collective well-being.

Business, in contrast, is about pecuniary profit for differential gain. Business is the process by which industry is mobilized to generate profits at a faster rate than other business. And, Veblen noted, this often entailed interference with industry.

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