CHAPTER 10The Rational Consumer

PowerPoint® Slides by Can Erbil

© 2004 Worth Publishers, all rights reserved© 2004 Worth Publishers, all rights reserved

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What you will learn in this chapter: How to spend income on goods and

services?

Why maximizing utility?

Why the principle of diminishing marginal utility applies to the consumption of most goods and services?

How to use marginal analysis to find the optimal consumption bundle?

How choices by individual consumers give rise to the market demand curve

Income and substitution effects

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Utility and Consumption

Utility

Consumption bundle

Utility function

Utils

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Cassie’s Total Utility and Marginal Utility

The marginal utility curve slopes downward due to diminishing marginal utility; each additional clam gives Cassie less utility than the previous clam.

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The Principle of Diminishing Marginal Utility

Marginal utility

Marginal utility curve

Principle of diminishing marginal utility

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Budgets and Optimal Consumption

Budget constraint

Consumption possibilities

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The budget line represents all the possible combinations of quantities of potatoes and clams that Sammy can purchase if he spends all of his income.

The Budget Line

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Changes in Income Shift the Budget Line

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Sammy’s Utility from Clam and Potato Consumption

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Optimal Consumption Choice

The optimal consumption bundle is the consumption bundle that maximizes a consumer’s total utility given his or her budget constraint.

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Sammy’s Budget and Total Utility

Sammy’s total utility is the sum of the utility he gets from clams and the utility he gets from potatoes.

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Optimal Consumption Bundle

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Spending the Marginal Dollar

The marginal utility per dollar spent on a good or service is the additional utility from spending one more dollar on that good or service.

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Sammy’s Marginal Utility per Dollar

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Marginal Utility per Dollar

If Sammy has in fact chosen his optimal consumption bundle, his marginal utility per dollar spent on clams and potatoes must be equal.

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Optimal Consumption Rule

The optimal consumption rule:when a consumer maximizes utility, the marginal utility per dollar spent must be the same for all goods and services in the consumption bundle.

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From Utility to the Demand Curve:Individual and Market Demand

The individual demand curve for a good shows the relationship between quantity demanded and price for an individual consumer.

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Marginal Utility, the Substitution Effect,and the Income Effect

The substitution effect

The income effect Normal Goods Inferior Goods Giffen Goods

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The End of Chapter 10

coming attraction:Chapter 11:

Consumer Preferences and Consumer Choice