AUTONOMOUS CONSUMPTION: Household consumption expenditures that are unrelated to income or production (especially disposable, national income, or gross national product). These are consumption expenditures that would occur even if household disposable income was zero. Autonomous consumption is graphically depicted as the vertical intercept of the consumption or propensity-to-consume line. Autonomous saving is the equal to the negative value of autonomous consumption. Changes in autonomous consumption, along with changes in other autonomous expenditures, are what trigger the multiplier effect.

     See also | consumption expenditures | disposable income | gross domestic product | consumption line | autonomous saving | autonomous expenditure | multiplier | induced consumption |