O consumo e o crédito na sociedade contemporânea

Capitalist society led, on the one hand, to the democratization of consumption and, by another, to the constant emergence of new and complex necessities. Therefore, the act of consumption is used not only to satisfy an individual necessity but also to answer a social necessity: to show the others the social group or social class to which someone belongs. This growth in consumption led to the increase of the use of credit to fund it. This article discusses the concept of consumption, both in economic and social terms, and shows how credit has allowed individuals to adjust their incomes to their expenditure by financing them the acquisition of a wide range of goods and services. Credit has improved the comfort and the quality of life, when allowing the satisfaction of personal and social necessity of the individuals.