Veblen & Financialization in the 19th Century

From Michael Hudson in Rentier Capitalism – Veblen in the 21st century:

Veblen’s ideas threatened what he called the “vested interests.” What made his analysis so disturbing was what he retained from the past. Classical political economy had used the labor theory of value to isolate the elements of price that had no counterpart in necessary costs of production. Economic rent – the excess of price over this “real cost” – is unearned income. It is an overhead charge for access to land, minerals or other natural resources, bank credit or other basic needs that are monopolized.

This concept of unearned income as an unnecessary element of price led Veblen to focus on what now is called financial engineering, speculation and debt leveraging.

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Thorstein Veblen, 1857-1929. Again, Veblen focused on "what now is called financial engineering, speculation and debt leveraging." And according to Hudson's article, Veblen "began to publish in the 1890s".