Economic Evolution: Dialectical and Darwinian

RT HE contribution of Thorstein Veblen to economic thought bears a striking resemblance to the body of doctrine elaborated by Karl Marx. This resemblance can be seen, for example, in the correspondence between their theories or explanations of economic change and development. The one, historical materialism, was developed by Marx on the basis of the Hegelian dialectic, while the other, institutional mutationism, was originated by Veblen from the Darwinian principles of variation, selection, and survival. Although the postulates underlying the two theories differ and operate through diverse mechanics of change, they perform similar functions in the two systems and lead to corresponding social philosophies. Their first and perhaps more important function consists in furnishing the criteria for judging the phenomenon of capitalism as a system of productive efficiency and, at the same time, for evaluating that body of knowledge in which capitalism finds theoretical justification. Since it is in terms of these postulates that the merits of capitalism and the ends it serves are weighed, both historical materialism and institutional mutationism are actually involved with a larger and decidedly philosophical problem, that of the theory of value from the standpoint of social morality.' A discussion of the con-