HoPE notes: June 7 II

Institutionalism, Brent
Good sources: Rutherford book from the syllabus, book by 'lennart?' with reformers in the title.
Lamarck: inheritance of acquired traits, e.g. a giraffe has a long neck because it is always stretching its neck which makes the neck longer, and this long neck is then inherited. Etc.
Notes that Darwin's Origin of Species is mostly a work of synthesis. Most of the ideas were floating around, there weren't huge innovations, but the contribution is mostly combining them and constructing arguments. 
Spencer: Social Statics, first person to sell at least a million copies of a book in the US (plus estimated there to be another million knock off copies). Carnagie (at that point the wealthiest man on earth), thoroughly admires Spencer (he actually addresses him as his master!).
Veblen
Takes classes from Sumner at Yale during his philosophy degree, where he gets taught Spencer, which he absolutely loves.
[he says he might teach a course on luxury goods, should ask about this]
new institutional economics, credit card paper?