The Resume

(July 30, 1857-August 3, 1929)
Born in Cato, Wisconsin
Economist and sociologist
Critic of capitalism
Professor at the University of Chicago (1892-1906), Stanford (1906-11) and the University of Missouri (1911-18)
Co-founder of the New School of Social Research (1919)
Wrote 'The Theory of the Leisure Class' (1899) and 'The Theory of Business Enterprise' (1904)

Why he might be annoying:

He was allegedly fired by Stanford University for his womanizing.
His lecture style, heavy on mumbling and digressions, drove away students.
His house was usually a mess, with unmade beds and dirty dishes.
Many of the examples of behavior in primitive societies that he used to illustrate his theories were made up.
'The Theory of the Leisure Class' was intended as a serious economic work but became a hit as a social satire.

Why he might not be annoying:

He initially had trouble finding a job in academia after graduating from Yale due to anti-Norwegian prejudice.
Due to his wide-ranging interests, he was known as 'the last man to know everything.'
He coined the phrase 'conspicuous consumption.'
Albert Einstein said he owed 'innumerable happy hours' to the reading of Veblen's work.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 31]
• Hey! They Doctored My Photo
• I am an Agnostic
• I am Norwegian-American
• I Attended Cornell
• I Attended Johns Hopkins University
• I Attended Yale
• I Died in 1929 (Ranked: 72)
• Look at My Speech or Thought Balloon
• Profiles 29751-30000 (Ranked: 29903)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19290803)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 64 Votes: 65.62% Annoying