Consumer economics is a branch of economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

. It is a broad field, principally concerned with microeconomic

Microeconomics

Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...

 analysis behavior in units of consumer

Consumer

Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...

s, families

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

, or individuals (in contrast to traditional economics, which primarily government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 or business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 units). It sometimes also encompasses family financial planning and policy analysis. The term largely describes what was more commonly called "home economics

Home Economics

Home economics is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community...

" in the past.

History

Consumer economics has its roots in pre-World War academia. The traditional economists had little interest in analyzing family units. When economic theory was insufficient to explain the phemonemon of women starting to enter the labor force en masse, consumer economics both gained attention and received important contributions from economic theorists. Major theoretical cornerstones include Gary Becker

Gary Becker

Gary Stanley Becker is an American economist. He is a professor of economics, sociology at the University of Chicago and a professor at the Booth School of Business. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992, and received the United States' Presidential Medal of Freedom...

's Household Production Model, time allocation models and Stigler's information search theory.

Consumer economics concludes the family-unit economists were strongly influenced by the most recent "consumer era"; which was the "Modern Consumer Movement" of the 1970s. The connection between Consumer Economics and consumer-related politics has been overt, although the strength of the connection varies between Universities and individuals.

Many facets of Consumer economics are measured regularly by the Federal Reserve System

Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...

 and the Bureau of Economic Analysis

Bureau of Economic Analysis

The Bureau of Economic Analysis is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides important economic statistics including the gross domestic product of the United States. Its stated mission is to "promote a better understanding of the U.S...

 and are available for the public. A number of indicators are published regularly from these and other academic sources, such as personal income, total household debt, and the Consumer Leverage Ratio

Consumer leverage ratio

Consumer Leverage Ratio is a term popularized by William Jarvis and Dr. Ian C MacMillan in a series of articles in the Harvard Business Review and refers to the ratio of total household debt, as reported by the Federal Reserve System to disposable personal income, as reported by the US Department...

.