What Is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a regulatory agency charged with overseeing financial products and services that are offered to consumers. The CFPB is divided into several units—research, community affairs, consumer complaints, the Office of Fair Lending, and the Office of Financial Opportunity. These units work
What Are Consumer Goods? Consumer goods are products bought for consumption by the average consumer. Also called final goods, consumer goods are the end result of production and manufacturing. Clothing, food products, and dishwashers are examples of common consumer goods. The Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972 regulates the sale of most common consumer goods
What Is Consumer Interest? Consumer interest is interest charged on consumer credit accounts such as personal loans, automobile loans and credit card debt. Unlike mortgage interest and some interest charged on student loans, consumer interest from personal loans, credit cards, and other debt is a nondeductible tax expense. Key Takeaways Consumer interest is interest charged on
What Is Consumerism? Consumerism is the idea that increasing the consumption of goods and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal, and that a person’s well-being and happiness depend fundamentally on obtaining consumer goods and material possessions. In the economics sense, consumerism is related to the predominantly Keynesian idea that consumer spending
What Is Consumer Liability? Consumer liability places accountability on consumers to prevent negligence in their consumption activities. Policies that determine the level of consumer liability are written into companies’ contracts and are a way of protecting them from any liability as a result of potential consumer negligence. Key Takeaways Consumer liabilities are contractual obligations that
What Is the Consumer Price Index (CPI)? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the monthly change in prices paid by U.S. consumers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates the CPI as a weighted average of prices for a basket of goods and services representative of aggregate U.S. consumer spending. The CPI is one of
What Is the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)? Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is a U.S. government agency that protects the American public from products that may present safety hazards. This independent regulatory body focuses on consumer items that pose an unreasonable risk of fire, chemical exposure, electrical malfunction, or mechanical failure. Products that expose
What Are Consumer Staples? The term consumer staples refers to a set of essential products used by consumers. This category includes things like foods and beverages, household goods, and hygiene products as well as alcohol and tobacco. These goods are those products that people are unable—or unwilling—to cut out of their budgets regardless of their
What Is Consumer Theory? Consumer theory is the study of how people decide to spend their money based on their individual preferences and budget constraints. A branch of microeconomics, consumer theory shows how individuals make choices subject to how much income they have available to spend and the prices of goods and services. Understanding how consumers
What Is the Consumption Function? The term consumption function refers to an economic formula that represents the functional relationship between total consumption and gross national income (GNI). The consumption function was introduced by British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued the function could be used to track and predict total aggregate consumption expenditures. It is a
