To be an independent thinker: an intellectual portrait of Staffan Burenstam Linder *

Abstract

The essay provides a portrait of the life and works of Staffan Burenstam Linder (1931–2000), one of Sweden's most renowned economists, the originator of the so-called Linder Thesis and of The Harried Leisure Class. It provides a critical account of all his major works and at the same time follows his career as an economist and a politician. The essay ends with an overall evaluation of his intellectual contribution.