9.13: Discussion- Consumer Equilibrium

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 249020

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $ $ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $$\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $ \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}$ $ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$ $ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$ $ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$ $ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$ $ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$ $ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $ \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}$ $ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$ $ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$ $ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$ $ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$ $ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$ $ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$$\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}$

Suppose that as a consumer you have $34 per month to spend on munchies—either pizzas, which cost $6 each, or Twinkies, which cost $4 each.

Create a set of marginal utility tables for each product, like the ones below. Remember that they must show diminishing marginal utility as more of each product is consumed.
Create the corresponding set of total utility tables for each product.
Graph the budget constraint with Pizzas on the horizontal axis and Twinkies on the vertical axis. What are the intercepts? Can you express the budget constraint as an algebraic equation for a line?

# of Pizzas	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Marginal Utility
Total Utility

# of Twinkies	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Marginal Utility
Total Utility

Should you purchase a Twinkie first or a Pizza first to get the “biggest bang for the buck”? How can you tell? What should you purchase second, third, etc. until you exhaust your budget?

Confirm that the combination of Twinkies and Pizzas you end up with will maximize your total utility by computing the total utility from other points on the budget line and comparing them to what you chose.

Discussion: Consumer Equilibrium. Authored by: Steve Greenlaw and Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution