The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (MCSI) is a monthly telephone survey that has been conducted by the University of Michigan since 1946. It gauges, for all of America (not just Michigan), how confident consumers are feeling in the economy.
At least 500 phone interviews with 50-ish questions go into each monthly MCSI report, covering people’s perception of business, buying, and personal finance. They ask consumers if they think prices, interest rates, and their own income will be up or down in the next year.
Since consumers account for almost three quarters of the U.S.’s GDP, the MCSI is something firms, politicians, and investors are all interested in. In general, the MCSI can be categorized as "weeeee!" (optimistic), "meh" (neutral), or "I hate everything" (pessimistic).