The academic term for this area of economic study is Marginal Propensity to Consume[1]. It's defined as: "The proportion of an aggregate raise in pay that a

The academic term for this area of economic study is Marginal Propensity to Consume[1]. It's defined as: "The proportion of an aggregate raise in pay that a consumer spends on the consumption of goods and services, as opposed to saving it." I don't think it's very controversial. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_propensity_to_consume http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_propensity_to_consume