t surplus

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 next 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 cucumber consumed. A poem costs three bronze coins hut a cucumber costs only one bronze coin. Praxilla has 18 bronze coins. Sketch Praxillas 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 Praxillas 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.

Suppose Alphonsos town raised the price of bus tickets to 1 per trip (while file price of burgers stayed at 2 and his budget remained 10 per week.) Draw Alphonsos new budget constraint. What happens to file opportunity cost of bus tickets?

HighFlyer Airlines wants to build new airplanes with greatly increased cabin space. This will allow HighFlyer Airlines to give passengers more comfort and sell more tickets at a higher price. However, redesigning the cabin means rethinking many other elements of the airplane as well, like engine and luggage placement, and the most efficient shape of the plane for moving through the air. HighFlyer Airlines has developed a list of possible methods to increase cabin space, along with estimates of how these approaches would affect the planes operating costs and ticket sales. Based on these estimates, Table 13.5 shows the value of R, how much should the firm invest in R on top of the private return; that is, an R private return to HighFlyer Airlines would have a 9 social return. How much investment is socially optimal at the 6 interest rate?

What is total surplus? How is it illustrated on a demand and supply diagram?

If the price is above line equilibrium level, would you predict a surplus or a shortage? If line price is below the equilibrium level, would you predict a surplus or a shortage? Why?