Consumption and the Consumer Society

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Global Development And Environment Institute
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae
A GDAE Teaching Module on Social and Environmental Issues in Economics 
By Brian Roach, Neva Goodwin, and Julie Nelson
Consumption and the 
Consumer Society
 

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This reading is based on portions of Chapter 8 from: Microeconomics in Context, Fourth Edition. 
Copyright Routledge, 2019. 
Copyright © 2019 Global Development And Environment Institute, Tufts University. 
Reproduced by permission. Copyright release is hereby granted for instructors to copy this 
module for instructional purposes. 
Students may also download the reading directly from 
https://ase.tufts.edu/gdae
Comments and feedback from course use are welcomed: 
Comments and feedback from course use are welcomed:
Global Development And Environment Institute 
Tufts University 
Somerville, MA 02144 
http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae
E-mail: 
[e-mail]
NOTE – terms denoted in bold face are defined in the KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS section at the 
end of the module. 
 

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CONSUMPTION AND THE CONSUMER SOCIETY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 5
 
2. ECONOMIC THEORY AND CONSUMPTION ............................................... 5
 
2.1 Consumer Sovereignty .............................................................................................. 5
2.2 The Budget Line ....................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Consumer Utility ....................................................................................................... 9
2.4 Limitations of the Standard Consumer Model ........................................................ 11