6.1 Consumption choices  (Page 4/22)

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José clearly prefers point Q to point P. Now repeat this step-by-step process of decision making with marginal utilities. José thinks about giving up the third T-shirt and surrendering a marginal utility of 20, in exchange for purchasing two more movies that promise a combined marginal utility of 27. José prefers point R to point Q. What if José thinks about going beyond R to point S? Giving up the second T-shirt means a marginal utility loss of 21, and the marginal utility gain from the fifth and sixth movies would combine to make a marginal utility gain of 23, so José prefers point S to R.

However, if José seeks to go beyond point S to point T, he finds that the loss of marginal utility from giving up the first T-shirt is 22, while the marginal utility gain from the last two movies is only a total of 19. If José were to choose point T, his utility would fall to 100. Through these stages of thinking about marginal tradeoffs, José again concludes that S, with one T-shirt and six movies, is the choice that will provide him with the highest level of total utility. This step-by-step approach will reach the same conclusion regardless of José’s starting point.

Another way to look at this is by focusing on satisfaction per dollar. Marginal utility per dollar is the amount of additional utility José receives given the price of the product. For José’s T-shirts and movies, the marginal utility per dollar is shown in [link] .

José’s first purchase will be a movie. Why? Because it gives him the highest marginal utility per dollar and it is affordable. José will continue to purchase the good which gives him the highest marginal utility per dollar until he exhausts the budget. José will keep purchasing movies because they give him a greater “bang or the buck” until the sixth movie is equivalent to a T-shirt purchase. José can afford to purchase that T-shirt. So José will choose to purchase six movies and one T-shirt.

Marginal utility per dollar
Quantity of T-Shirts Total Utility Marginal Utility Marginal Utility per Dollar Quantity of Movies Total Utility Marginal Utility Marginal Utility per Dollar
1 22 22   22/$14=1.6 1 16 16 16/$7=2.3
2 43 21   21/$14=1.5 2 31 15 15/$7=2.14
3 63 20   20/$14=1.4 3 45 14 14/$7=2
4 81 18   18/$14=1.3 4 58 13 13/$7=1.9
5 97 16   16/$14=1.1 5 70 12 12/$7=1.7
6 111 14   14/$14=1 6 81 11 11/$7=1.6
7 123 12   12/$14=1.2 7 91 10 10/$7=1.4

A rule for maximizing utility

This process of decision making suggests a rule to follow when maximizing utility . Since the price of T-shirts is twice as high as the price of movies, to maximize utility the last T-shirt chosen needs to provide exactly twice the marginal utility (MU) of the last movie. If the last T-shirt provides less than twice the marginal utility of the last movie, then the T-shirt is providing less “bang for the buck” (i.e., marginal utility per dollar spent) than if the same money were spent on movies. If this is so, José should trade the T-shirt for more movies to increase his total utility. Marginal utility per dollar measures the additional utility that José will enjoy given what he has to pay for the good.

what is demand
demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given period of time.
Modest
what is opportunity cost
what is gini coefficient?
Never heard of that!!!!
Abdulrahmon
ive heard about it Actually i know it..
Shamamet
In that case, you have to help us.
Patrick
Another name for Absolute cost advantage
what is the difference between demand and supply
what is the national income
oils and resources
Peter
it is the sum of all incomes earned by factors of production usually a year
C-Stixxs
What's current account?
Demand refers to goods and services that the buyer is willing and able to buy at a price over a period of time
Che
Can it be possible to have two level of comparative advantage in a country ?
.no.its not possible
Asanda
Why ?
Louise
I think no possible
No
Nwanne
No resources are scare for a country to have a comparative advantage and it discourages external trade
C-Stixxs
each country are meant to Specialize on 1 production activities
C-Stixxs
why do oligopoly increase on the elastic segment of the demand curve
what is all about production possibility curve
help me about the assumption of possibility curve
Nice
-The quantity and quality of economic resources are fixed. -only two types of goods can be produce out of this resources (that is,producer and consumer goods). -Resources are fully utilised. -The resources are mobile. -The state of technology is constant.
Louise
What is utility
it is the satisfaction derived from d consumption of goods and services
C-Stixxs
what is opportunity cost
Aboubakar
what is the meaning of money and inflation
Money can be define as anything acceptable as a medium of exchange and mean of payment
Cynthia
inflation is when everything seemed to cost so much less
Nwanne
Inflation is d persistent rise in level of goods and services in a country
C-Stixxs
Inflation is the persistent increase in d general price level of goods n services
C-Stixxs
what is a bar chart
what's economic
Economics can be define as a study of how human beings make decisions in the face of scarcity it can also be define as using one wealth to make more wealth
Cynthia
Or in Nigerian way Economics is a science (social science) which studies human behavior as a relationship between Ends and Scarce which have alternative uses
Cynthia
Economics is the study of how human make decision in the face of scarcity
Nwanne
what is the meaning of imperfect market structure
the theroy of demand
Tinuke