Consumer choice in the American economy depends upon competition in the market. In simplest terms, families and individuals select their purchases from among all the goods and services that competing sellers offer. The process of consumer choice and the shopping process by which the consumer obtains the goods and services that he has chosen have been examined by psychologists and sociologists, statisticians and engineers, government policy-makers and businessmen. This book applies economic analysis to the study of consumer choice and market competition.

What does an economist have to contribute? Lionel Robbins has defined economics as "the science which studies . . .