CLEP US History II

Answer: C - In 1899, Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class, in which he popularized the term “conspicuous consumption.” Veblen was describing the acquisition of luxury goods as a demonstration of one’s economic worth or power, which was rampant during the Gilded Age. It was again a common occurrence during the 1980s, when the so-called “Me Generation” was dominated by materialistic social culture.