The Consumption Function in Economics: History, Method and Policy Implications

This book examines the historical and methodological development of the consumption function in economics. It provides a discussion of the key stages in the theoretical evolution of the concept, from the beginning of the 20th century through to the modern day. Particular attention is given to the ways in which Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, James Duesenberry, Franco Modigliani, Richard Brumberg, and Milton Friedman conceptualized consumption. Further, it examines the latest theoretical and methodological developments within the neoclassical, as well as the heterodox economics traditions. By connecting the history of consumption function to the methodological frameworks in which consumption theories were devised, the work also brings into the fore the important economic policy implications associated to various consumption formulations.