Reviews for Theory of Business Enterprise

The average rating for Theory of Business Enterprise based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-22 00:00:00 Michael Davalos The first thing that comes to mind, this is not an easy read. I am by no means an expert reader/writer. But, I do read economics texts on a regular basis. That being said, Veblen provides a clear, detached, view of business as many of understand it today. It is a piece of work that will yield dividends towards one's understanding of how the spheres of finance and commerce collide. The language is turgid, dense, and strangely repetitive. A word of advice, I would begin with some of his other works for the necessary understanding of the text as a whole. Veblen's "Instinct of Workmanship" and "The Theory of the Leisure Class" should probably be read before "The Theory of Business Enterprise". A further understanding of Dewian or Peircian Pragmatism is helpful, but not necessary. I would recommend one read a few chapters, 1-6 in particular, and let them marinate. Then, I would listen to them again on Audible. I have a tendency to look to granularly at a text, and therefore overlook some of the broader strokes presented. For me, listening to a text is easier and lends itself more readily towards abstraction and application. It is also much less of an investment in time. Some key insights that may be drawn from the text are as follows: 1) An insight into the manner in which the business cycle develops in modern industry 2) Why they develop, where those drivers can be found 3) Why the great divide between Capitalism and Socialism can be found and how to interpret that difference 4) Understand how 'cogs in the machine' mentality develops and persists in industry 5) The composition of business enterprise funding 6) The reason for price-to-book ratios and their meaning 7) How capitalism, by nature, can cause oligopolies 8) How the 'machine process', quantification, and the need for certainty can create massive shortcomings These were my key takeaways. I'm sure I missed some. Bottom Line...I would read this book even though it could be, at times, painful.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-02-02 00:00:00 Jolie Schoffelen Starting with the exceedingly obvious observation that business men and the values of business enterprise dominate our social, political, and cultural landscape, Veblen introduces the contradictions between business enterprise and industry and its industrial systems. The famous lines point to the role of business men as well positioned to create disorder in order to create or preserve extra profits. But this is really just the start from where Veblen details the logics and patterns that flow out with examples that could just as easily be drawn from the facts of today as in his time. Extraordinary companion to his “Theory of the Leisure Class”, his style seems to almost be explaining our current situation to an alien. It’s thorough going with great explanatory powers and resurrects the political economy roots of economics and reads like a more exacting sociological text. If you read it, it helps to forgive some of the silted language and to be generous were at times his generalizations expand beyond his facts but if you can read with an objective eye there are many golden insights into the forces and logics at play in modern society. A must read for anyone looking to see how we might transcend the current entanglement of ecological, political, economic, and social crisis.