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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Industrial Exemption and Conservatism.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How do standards of consumption change?
(a) They change with every season.
(b) Faster in societies with less social mobility.
(c) Very slowly over time.
(d) Slower in societies with more social mobility.

2. What does Veblen say is the motive for ownership?
(a) Possessiveness.
(b) Emulation.
(c) Competitiveness.
(d) Envy.

3. What is the state of the institution with regard to the present moment?
(a) It transcends the present moment.
(b) It predicts how people will behave in the future.
(c) It is never fully caught up to the present.
(d) It represents a snapshot of the present moment.

4. How does Veblen explain the change of fashion from year to year?
(a) It is a form of conspicuous waste.
(b) It is a constantly renewed way to police who is current and who is classic.
(c) It is a form of cultural restlessness.
(d) It is a shallow form of bourgeois emulation of different aristocratic idols.

5. Why does Veblen say women wore corsets?
(a) Because restricting their movements made them less threatening.
(b) Because discomfort was a luxury.
(c) Because making them slenderer made them seem more expensive.
(d) Because restricting their movements prevented them from work.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the standards of consumption determined by?

2. What two classes does Veblen distinguish between?

3. What does Veblen say was the earliest form of ownership?

4. What does Veblen mean by the terms "social inertia" and "conservatism"?

5. What does Veblen say happens whenever people acquire a greater ability to pay?

(see the answer key)

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