1999 is the 100th year anniversary of the publication of Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class. This volume commemorates and celebrates Veblen's seminal contribution to the analysis of consumerist capitalism and assesses the book's relevance to the twenty-first century.Veblen's Leisure Class was a pioneering effort to come to terms with industrial capitalism's consumer culture, and it became the foundation for much of contemporary institutional economics. This book examines Veblen's contribution to the analysis of the new global economy, the growth of the women's movement, inequality, consumption and gambling at the turn of the century. It concludes by analysing the effects of the globalization of capitalism.

This book will be of great interest to scholars of the history of economic thought and particularly those interested in how we can relate Veblen's classic work to society today and in the future.