The book presents state-of-the-art scholarship on Thorstein Veblen, one of the world's most influential social scientists. It explores hitherto neglected aspects of his life, works and historical relevance.

Acknowledgements; List of Contributors; 1. Introduction - Erik S. Reinert and Francesca Lidia Viano; 2. Veblen's Contexts: Valdres, Norway and Europe; Filiations of Economics; and Economics for an Age of Crises - Erik S. Reinert; PART ONE: NORWEGIAN ORIGINS AND PERSONAL LIFE: 3. Explaining Veblen by his Norwegian Background: A Sketch - Kåre Lunden; 4. Valdres to the Upper Midwest: The Norwegian Background of the Veblen Family and their Migration to the United States - Terje Mikael Hasle Joranger; 5. New Perspectives on Thorstein Veblen, the Norwegian - Knut Odner; 6. The Physical World of Thorstein Veblen: Washington Island and Other Intimate Spaces - Russell H. Bartley and Sylvia Erickson Bartley; PART TWO: AMERICAN EDUCATION: 7. Ithaca Transfer: Veblen and the Historical Profession - Francesca Lidia Viano; 8. Schooling for Heterodoxy: On the Foundations of Thorstein Veblen's Institutional Economics - Charles Camic; PART THREE: VEBLEN'S POLITICS: 9. Thorstein Veblen and the Politics of Predatory Power - Sidney Plotkin; 10. Veblen, War and Peace - Stephen Edgell; 11. Veblen's 'Higher Learning': The Scientist as Sisyphus in the Iron Cage of a University - Eyüp Özveren; PART FOUR: VEBLEN'S ECONOMICS: 12. Thorstein Veblen: The Father of Evolutionary and Institutional Economics - Geoffrey M. Hodgson; 13. Veblen's Words Weighed - Paul Burkander; 14. The Great Crash of 2007 Viewed through the Perspective of Veblen's 'Theory of Business Enterprise', Keynes's Monetary Theory of Production and Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis - L. Randall Wray; 15. Predation from Veblen until Now: Remarks to the Veblen Sesquicentennial Conference - James K. Galbraith; 16. Capitalising Expectations: Veblen on Consumption, Crises and the Utility of Waste - Sophus A. Reinert and Francesca Lidia Viano; 17. Thorstein Veblen: Still Misunderstood, but More Important Now than Ever - Robert H. Frank; Name Index; Subject Index 

Edited by Erik S. Reinert and Francesca L. Viano