In its late nineteenth-century heyday neo-classical economics thought; and in silencing the overtones of inevitability present in both the classical and Marxist tradition it was able to train a highly significant spotlight within a market system. Perhaps more surprising, however, despite Veblen, despite, Keynes, neo-classical economic thought still has insights to offer at the present day, even if it’s ‘perfectly competitive regime’ is nowadays treated more as a norm than as a description.