Wow.  My dad is an artist, 82 years old, went to art school but not college, set up educational television in Memphis TN when I was a kid, worked in United Fund as an executive director and was later a stockbroker.  He was horribly self-conscious about not having a college degree, yet is the smartest and best-educated man I know.  He "retired" at about age 50 to be a full-time struggling artist because he didn't want to have "here lies a stockbroker" on his tombstone.  He's my hero.

But the point: he quoted Thorstein Veblen to me all my life.  And for some time now, I've been telling him about this web site and how much I think he'd enjoy it.  Thank you thank you, thank you for this diary; you've provided the bait and the hook, I'm certain, and have rekindled my interest in Veblen, too.  I'll be poring over those links for quite a while.  Damn I love Eurotrib!!

Karen in Austin

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher