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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Pecuniary Canons of Taste.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Veblen say motivates conspicuous waste?
(a) The desire to demonstrate wealth.
(b) The desire to give to the poor indirectly.
(c) The desire to conform to established usage.
(d) The desire to consume excessively.

2. What does Veblen say happens to cultures that develop knowledge and tools?
(a) They become more warlike.
(b) They become more efficient.
(c) They become more decadent.
(d) They become more diplomatic.

3. What does Veblen say about the upper classes in Iceland and Polynesia?
(a) That they worked alongside the rest.
(b) That they were barred from physical labor.
(c) That they offered their vassals' labor to the priests.
(d) That they invested the capital and give laborers the means of production.

4. Why do people spend more than they need for physical comfort?
(a) They cannot keep excess wealth.
(b) They conform to a code of decency.
(c) They want to impress their superiors.
(d) They need to stimulate their local economy.

5. Which occupation would the leisure class have worked as?
(a) Writer.
(b) Minister.
(c) Merchant.
(d) Engraver.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens when people attain a certain level of consumption?

2. How must a man of leisure act?

3. What does Veblen say comprises people's standard of living?

4. What distinction does Veblen say emerged between types of labor in cultures that had a leisure class?

5. What are signs of vicarious consumption?

(see the answer key)

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