The Objective Factors of Consumption Function

by | May 22, 2025 | Applied Science

 

Briefly Explain the Objective Factors of Consumption Function

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Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

In economics, the consumption function describes the relationship between consumption expenditure and disposable income. While disposable income is the primary determinant, John Maynard Keynes, and subsequent economists, identified several other factors that objectively influence a community’s (or an individual’s) propensity to consume. These “objective factors” are external, measurable, and can cause shifts in the entire consumption function, meaning that at any given level of income, the amount consumed changes.

Here are some of the key objective factors:

  1. Changes in the Price Level (Real Income):

    • Explanation: When the general price level in an economy changes, it affects the purchasing power of money, and thus, the real income of individuals. If prices fall, real income effectively increases, allowing people to buy more goods and services with the same nominal income, leading to higher consumption. Conversely, rising prices reduce real income, leading to lower consumption.
    • Impact: A fall in the price level shifts the consumption function upward, and a rise in the price level shifts it downward.

  2. Changes in the Wage Level:

    • Explanation: A general increase in wage levels across the economy raises the income of workers. This directly translates to higher disposable income, which in turn leads to increased consumption.
    • Impact: A rise in wages will generally shift the consumption function upward.

  3. Changes in the Rate of Interest:

    • Explanation: The interest rate influences both saving and borrowing decisions. A higher interest rate might encourage saving (as the return on savings is higher) and discourage

In economics, the consumption function describes the relationship between consumption expenditure and disposable income. While disposable income is the primary determinant, John Maynard Keynes, and subsequent economists, identified several other factors that objectively influence a community’s (or an individual’s) propensity to consume. These “objective factors” are external, measurable, and can cause shifts in the entire consumption function, meaning that at any given level of income, the amount consumed changes.

Here are some of the key objective factors:

  1. Changes in the Price Level (Real Income):

    • Explanation: When the general price level in an economy changes, it affects the purchasing power of money, and thus, the real income of individuals. If prices fall, real income effectively increases, allowing people to buy more goods and services with the same nominal income, leading to higher consumption. Conversely, rising prices reduce real income, leading to lower consumption.
    • Impact: A fall in the price level shifts the consumption function upward, and a rise in the price level shifts it downward.

  2. Changes in the Wage Level:

    • Explanation: A general increase in wage levels across the economy raises the income of workers. This directly translates to higher disposable income, which in turn leads to increased consumption.
    • Impact: A rise in wages will generally shift the consumption function upward.

  3. Changes in the Rate of Interest:

    • Explanation: The interest rate influences both saving and borrowing decisions. A higher interest rate might encourage saving (as the return on savings is higher) and discourage
    • borrowing for consumption (as the cost of credit increases). This can lead to a decrease in current consumption. Conversely, lower interest rates make borrowing cheaper and saving less attractive, encouraging more consumption.
    • Impact: Higher interest rates tend to shift the consumption function downward, while lower interest rates shift it upward.

  2. Fiscal Policy (Taxes and Government Spending/Transfers):

    • Explanation: Government’s fiscal policy significantly impacts disposable income. A reduction in taxes increases disposable income, leading to higher consumption. Conversely, an increase in taxes reduces disposable income and consumption. Government transfer payments (like unemployment benefits or social security) also directly increase the disposable income of recipients, boosting consumption. Progressive tax systems, by redistributing income towards lower-income groups (who have a higher propensity to consume), can also increase aggregate consumption.
    • Impact: Tax cuts or increased transfer payments shift the consumption function upward; tax increases or reduced transfers shift it downward.

  3. Windfall Gains or Losses (Wealth Effect):

    • Explanation: Unexpected changes in wealth, such as a boom in the stock market (windfall gains) or a sudden decline in asset values (windfall losses), can significantly influence consumption. People who experience unexpected gains tend to feel wealthier and increase their consumption, even if their current income hasn’t changed.
    • Impact: Windfall gains (e.g., a stock market boom, lottery win) shift the consumption function upward, while windfall losses shift it downward.

  4. Consumer Credit Availability:

    • Explanation: The ease and cost of obtaining credit (e.g., loans for cars, mortgages, credit card debt) can influence consumption, especially for durable goods. When credit is readily available and affordable, people are more likely to borrow and spend, boosting consumption.
    • Impact: Easier and cheaper credit facilities tend to shift the consumption function upward.

  5. Distribution of Income:

    • Explanation: The way income is distributed within a society affects aggregate consumption. If income is more equally distributed, the overall propensity to consume tends to be higher because lower-income individuals typically have a higher marginal propensity to consume (they spend a larger proportion of any additional income) compared to wealthier individuals.
    • Impact: A more equal distribution of income tends to shift the aggregate consumption function upward.

  6. Expectations:

    • Explanation: Consumer expectations about future income, prices, or economic conditions can influence current consumption. If consumers expect their incomes to rise in the future or anticipate higher prices, they might increase their current spending. Conversely, expectations of recession or job loss might lead to increased saving and reduced consumption.
    • Impact: Positive future expectations shift the consumption function upward; negative expectations shift it downward.

These objective factors are distinct from “subjective factors” (like individual psychological motives for saving or spending) because they are external to the individual’s inherent psychology and can be observed and measured in the economy, causing shifts in the entire consumption schedule.

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