References & Readings

History of Economic Thought - Primary Sources

Thorstein Veblen (Bio) (Photo)

• The Theory of the Leisure Class

• The Theory of Business Enterprise

• Absentee Ownership: Note to Chapter 11

• Veblen Reader

Clarence E. Ayres

• The Theory of Economic Progress

Elting Morison

• Gunfire at Sea

James K. Galbraith

• Who Are These Economists, Anyway?

David Ricardo

• On Machinery

Richard Feynman

• Space Shuttle Report

Snell Report

Wikipedia - Conspicuous consumption Note: This entry has errors interpreting Veblen’s work, but it provides a brief survey of literature on Conspicuous Consumption

James Sturgeon

• John Dewey on Economics

• Dewey and Posner on Pragmatism

• Dewey, Keynes, and Veblen Note: Use this Powerpoint as a slide show. It can be fun to guess who wrote what.

  Consumption Theory Concepts Note: this co-written paper may be helpful in understanding the application of control theory to consumption and the graphs in the Powerpoints for the consumption models listed in the Research Tools, Data & Models section.

• Which Way Forward An examination of alternative energy sources in four US plains states

• Mudholes, Qwerty and Economic Analysis

• Mudholes and Qwertys: An Old Story Note: There is a bit of repetition of the above paper, but mostly new material

• Institutional Economics and Social Group Analysis Note: This paper expands the analysis in Chapter 5 dealing with group dynamics and values

• The Enduring Tension Note: The paper expands the discussion of the Enduring Tension in Chapter 3

• Oil