Consumption, utilisation of the material benefits created in the process of production, a key sphere of economic relations, one phase of the process of reproduction. The social product is created by people in order to meet their requirements, so that all production ultimately serves consumption. This expresses the close link between the two phases of reproduction: production appears as a means of consumption, and the latter in turn serves as the purpose of production. There are two types of consumption: productive consumption, i. e., the utilisation of machines, instruments, fuel, raw and other materials and other means of production in the process of production, and personal consumption, i. e., people’s use of various material benefits (food, clothing, footwear, cultural, sports and household goods, etc.) for satisfying personal requirements. Productive consumption is included in the direct process of production, while personal consumption lies outside its sphere. While it is dependent on production (the quantity and quality of output, growth rates, etc.), consumption also affects production. Production and consumption are linked via distribution and exchange (/). The character of consumption and the correlation between production and consumption are determined by the action of the objective economic laws and by the kind of ownership of the means of production. Capitalist production is directly geared to the creation of surplus value and serves consumption to the extent to which it embodies the surplus value created and defines conditions for its production on a growing scale. Under capitalism, therefore, there is an antagonistic contradiction between production and consumption: consumption lags behind production, especially during economic crises of overproduction, when huge quantities of products are unsold, perish and are destroyed, since working people are unable to purchase them. With public ownership of the means of production, the socio-economic aim of production is to satisfy the requirements of all members of society as fully as possible. The contradiction between the people’s growing requirements and the level of production achieved in socialist society is resolved through the dynamic and balanced development of social production and increasing its effectiveness, as well as through accelerating scientific and technical progress and improvement of the quality of work throughout the economy. This leads to a steady growth of the working people’s personal consumption and the fuller satisfaction of their requirements (see Basic Economic Law of Socialism).