In his early years, Mister Galbraith was greatly influenced by the economist Thorstein Veblen and his book, "The Theory of the Leisure Class."

VOA: special.2011.05.01

Of course there's always Thorstein Veblen's explanation: "conspicuous consumption, " propounded in his 1899 classic, The Theory of the Leisure Class.

FORBES: Money, Happiness And The Pursuit Of Both

Thorstein Veblen's theory of conspicuous consumption is dated.

FORBES: Rationalizing Wealth

Thorstein Veblen's suggestion in 1918 that by doing any undergraduate training at all the university was in danger of becoming a body of secondary-school teachers masquerading as something much grander has not lost its sting.

ECONOMIST: Higher learning and the middle classes