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Riding the Wave: Consumer Economics and the Consumer Movement in the United States

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Abstract

The development and current state of the scholarly field of Consumer Economics in the United States is discussed in relation to the Consumer Movement and other forces that have impinged upon it. Membership in the American Council on Consumer Interests, the scholarly organization for consumer economists, is used as one measure of the size and health of the field. Other forces impinging on the field that are discussed include: the baby boom induced increase in the demand for college education; the subsequent decline in the support for higher education as higher education costs rose throughout the 1980s and 1990s; the decline in the Federal Government's support for consumer research and consumer education; and the development of competing organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, N132 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853-4401, USA; E-mail

    W. Keith Bryant

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  1. W. Keith Bryant
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Bryant, W.K. Riding the Wave: Consumer Economics and the Consumer Movement in the United States. Journal of Consumer Policy 22, 313–330 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006224725014

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006224725014

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