Chapter 6: Q.6RQ (page 151)
Would you expect total utility to rise or fall with additional consumption of a good? Why?
Short Answer
The total utility will rise with additional consumption of a good.
Chapter 6: Q.6RQ (page 151)
Would you expect total utility to rise or fall with additional consumption of a good? Why?
The total utility will rise with additional consumption of a good.
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Get started for freeAs a general rule, is it safe to assume that a change in the price of a good will always have its most significant impact on the quantity demanded of that good, rather than on the quantity demanded of other goods? Explain.
Take Jeremyโs total utility information in Exercise 6.1, and use the marginal utility approach to confirm the choice of phone minutes and round trips that maximize Jeremyโs utility.
Jeremy is deeply in love with Jasmine. Jasmine lives where cell phone coverage is poor, so he can either call her on the land-line phone for five cents per minute or he can drive to see her, at a round-trip cost of \(2 in gasoline money. He has a total of \)10 per week to spend on staying in touch. To make his preferred choice, Jeremy uses a handy utilimometer that measures his total utility from personal visits and from phone minutes. Using the values in Table 6.6, figure out the points on Jeremyโs consumption choice budget constraint (it may be helpful to do a sketch) and identify his utility-maximizing point.
Round Trips | Total Utility | Phone Minutes | Total Utility |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1 | 80 | 20 | 200 |
2 | 150 | 40 | 380 |
3 | 210 | 60 | 540 |
4 | 260 | 80 | 680 |
5 | 300 | 100 | 800 |
6 | 330 | 120 | 900 |
7 | 200 | 140 | 980 |
8 | 180 | 160 | 1040 |
9 | 160 | 180 | 1080 |
10 | 140 | 200 | 1100 |
Explain all the reasons why a decrease in a product's price would lead to an increase in purchases.
What is the rule relating the ratio of marginal utility to prices of two goods at the optimal choice? Explain why, if this rule does not hold, the choice cannot be utility-maximizing.
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