# 6.1 Consumption choices  (Page 6/22)

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To understand this point, think back to the step-by-step process of finding the choice with highest total utility by comparing the marginal utility that is gained and lost from different choices along the budget constraint. As José compares each choice along his budget constraint to the previous choice, what matters is not the specific numbers that he places on his utility—or whether he uses any numbers at all—but only that he personally can identify which choices he prefers.

In this way, the step-by-step process of choosing the highest level of utility resembles rather closely how many people make consumption decisions. We think about what will make us the happiest; we think about what things cost; we think about buying a little more of one item and giving up a little of something else; we choose what provides us with the greatest level of satisfaction. The vocabulary of comparing the points along a budget constraint and total and marginal utility is just a set of tools for discussing this everyday process in a clear and specific manner. It is welcome news that specific utility numbers are not central to the argument, since a good utilimometer is hard to find. Do not worry—while we cannot measure utils, by the end of the next module, we will have transformed our analysis into something we can measure—demand.

## Key concepts and summary

Economic analysis of household behavior is based on the assumption that people seek the highest level of utility or satisfaction. Individuals are the only judge of their own utility. In general, greater consumption of a good brings higher total utility. However, the additional utility received from each unit of greater consumption tends to decline in a pattern of diminishing marginal utility.

The utility-maximizing choice on a consumption budget constraint can be found in several ways. You can add up total utility of each choice on the budget line and choose the highest total. You can choose a starting point at random and compare the marginal utility gains and losses of moving to neighboring points—and thus eventually seek out the preferred choice. Alternatively, you can compare the ratio of the marginal utility to price of good 1 with the marginal utility to price of good 2 and apply the rule that at the optimal choice, the two ratios should be equal:

$\begin{array}{rcl}\frac{{\text{MU}}_{1}}{{\text{P}}_{1}}& =& \frac{{\text{MU}}_{2}}{{\text{P}}_{2}}\end{array}$

## Problems

Praxilla, who lived in ancient Greece, derives utility from reading poems and from eating cucumbers. Praxilla gets 30 units of marginal utility from her first poem, 27 units of marginal utility from her second poem, 24 units of marginal utility from her third poem, and so on, with marginal utility declining by three units for each additional poem. Praxilla gets six units of marginal utility for each of her first three cucumbers consumed, five units of marginal utility for each of her next three cucumbers consumed, four units of marginal utility for each of the following three cucumbers consumed, and so on, with marginal utility declining by one for every three cucumbers consumed. A poem costs three bronze coins but a cucumber costs only one bronze coin. Praxilla has 18 bronze coins. Sketch Praxilla’s budget set between poems and cucumbers, placing poems on the vertical axis and cucumbers on the horizontal axis. Start off with the choice of zero poems and 18 cucumbers, and calculate the changes in marginal utility of moving along the budget line to the next choice of one poem and 15 cucumbers. Using this step-by-step process based on marginal utility, create a table and identify Praxilla’s utility-maximizing choice. Compare the marginal utility of the two goods and the relative prices at the optimal choice to see if the expected relationship holds. Hint : Label the table columns: 1) Choice, 2) Marginal Gain from More Poems, 3) Marginal Loss from Fewer Cucumbers, 4) Overall Gain or Loss, 5) Is the previous choice optimal? Label the table rows: 1) 0 Poems and 18 Cucumbers, 2) 1 Poem and 15 Cucumbers, 3) 2 Poems and 12 Cucumbers, 4) 3 Poems and 9 Cucumbers, 5) 4 Poems and 6 Cucumbers, 6) 5 Poems and 3 Cucumbers, 7) 6 Poems and 0 Cucumbers.

## References

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2015. “Consumer Expenditures in 2013.” Accessed March 11, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxann13.pdf.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2015. “Employer Costs for Employee Compensation—December 2014.” Accessed March 11, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2015. “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.” Accessed March 11, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat22.htm.

how environment affect demand and supply of commodity ?
Wht at the criteria for market ?
Amos
what is difference between monitory policy and fiscal policy?
monetary policy is a policy thrust by National Govt(CBN) to influence government spending, purchase &taxes
Frank
necessity of economics
I will say want,choice,opportunity cost,scarcity,scale of preference
Alao
what is monopoly market.How price output are determined under monopoly market
bisham
b) Monopoly market is an impecfect market where s single firm having the innovation to produce a particular commodity.Prices are determined through output since there are no other competitive.
Frank
Monopoly market:firm has market power & does not respond to market price
Frank
Explain the process of price determination under perfect competition market with suitable diagram
Price determination under perfect competition via this process :firms have no market power to influence price rather firms respond to market price.
Frank
price is different from demand- demand is amount of commodity
demand is amount /quantity of commodity a potential buyer is willing to buy at a given price at market
Frank
demand is a desire of customer on commodity with the ability to pay it and willing to buy it at given price of commodity
Harika
demand is price of what
show that shortrun average cost
what is economics
what is money
Mbah
what is money
Mbah
Difine macro economics
agaba
money is a medium of exchange between goods and services,maybe inform of currency.
Wesonga
Economics is study of how human beings strive to satisfy numerous wants using limited available resources.
Wesonga
how do you find the maximum number of workers the firms should employ order to produce where there are increasing returns
Jane
what are implications of computing national income?.
agaba
pl
MUDASIRU
what is the formulae for calculating national income
MUDASIRU
it calculated by value added method
Praveen
classify the production units like agriculture, banking, transport etc
Praveen
money is anything that is generally acceptetable for human
Ogbaji
Estimate the net value added(NVA) at fixed cost by each industrial structure
Praveen
definition of unemployment
what are the causes of unemployment?
The main causes of unemployment are listed below. 1. Frictional unemployment 2. Cyclical unemployment 3. Structural unemployment
assani
We can also categorize the causes on a broader sense as: 1. Political and 2. Social cause As unemployeement root causes are embaded in this two.
Yonathan
would opportunity cost exist if there was no scarcity?
assani
yes just because the opportunity cost arose when there is Alternative to choose among the alternatives.
I am thinking that, if our resources were unlimited, then there wouldn't be any need to forgo some wants. Hence the inexistence if opportunity cost
assani
Politics
Job
politics has done what?
assani
consider time assani
Mary
I'm Emmanuel,...I taught the main cause is the change in gov't.
Emmanuel
...Lack of capital to set up a firm respectively
Emmanuel
🙈
Emmanuel
I would like to bring in Educational levels can also be the cause the cause of the problem respectively
Emmanuel
I think the main causes of unemployment is lack of INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT OVER POPULATION OVER DEPENDENT ON GOVERNMENT LACK OF SELF EMPOWERMENT...
ananti
lack of skills among the new generation is the serious issue.
Vishal
Where I come from , I don't see why education or personal aspects seem to do with unimployment, technically the motivation and eigerness in all works of live is there , dispite the cultural influence and physical bearriors;the thing we lacking is Government Support and open market ethics.
Joe
sorry about that-(repation). We have a over powering ethical political system that's displacing the marketing asspects of economy and causing large scale unemployment right across the board...
Joe
can someone Explain Expansionary Monetary Policy and Contractionary Monetary Policy Using one of the instrument of Monetary Policy? Please am kinda lost here?. ta
using a graph show the case of substitute and compliment goods
can anyone give me a simple explanation to Five Sector Macroeconomics?
Emmanuel
Can someone please define what economics is
economics simply is a social science subject that study human behavior.
dajan
economics is a social science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means that has alternative uses
Alao
Can someone please tell me how to calculate GDP
Emmanuel
emmanual kapal to calculate GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has three method in calculating it (1)income approach (2) expenditure approach (3) value added method
Alao
thanks Alae
Emmanuel
u are welcome
Alao
in basic terms economics is revered to as battery system, it date back to when Men sees the need to exchange sapless goods and produce to gain , either wealth , basic necessities or to establish trading ties for personal benefit or social asspects in terms of coexistence and continuity, future .
Joe
what is the law of demand
keep other thing constant, when the price increases demand decrease when the price decreases demand increases of the commodity.
sj
all things being equal,quantity demanded decrease as price increase and increase as price decrease
Seth
there's practial joke to it ..." the higher the demand ; scarcity, increase in production and drop in quality"... quite the controversy - for example China vs Europe, United States and we are all boxed up in between somewhere...
Joe
Other thing remain constant the low price of commodity the high quantity of commodity and vice versa is true
Baraka
Explain Effective demand
What is effective demand
Anita
like Modi is in demand...best example of effective demand
Pranav
Don't get you
Anita
Anita you mean you don't get me or who?
Onyeking
level of demand that represents a real intention to purchase by people with the means to pay
Pranav