Microeconomics
Microeconomics
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781260507140
Author: David C. Colander
Publisher: McGraw Hill Education
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Chapter 19, Problem 1QE
To determine

The difference between marginal utility and total utility.

Expert Solution & Answer
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Explanation of Solution

Marginal utility refers to the additional unit of fraction derived from the consumption of one or more additional units of goods and services. The total utility refers to the total satisfaction of a person, which derives from the consumption of various units of a commodity.

Marginal utility first rises and then declines due to the working of the law of diminishing marginal utility, which states that as a person goes on consuming more and more units of the same commodity, his satisfaction increases and then starts declining. This is why the marginal utility first rises and then declines.

Economics Concept Introduction

Total utility: Total utility refers to the total satisfaction derived by a person from the consumption of overall unit of a commodity.

Marginal utility: Marginal utility refers to the additional utility derived by a person from an additional unit of commodity.

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Practice: Their labor forces are each capable of supplying four million hours per week that can be used to produce shorts, almonds, or some combination of the two.  Country Shorts Almonds (Pairs per hour of labor) (Pounds per hour of labor) Everglades 4 16 Denali 5 10   Suppose that initially Denali uses 1 million hours of labor per week to produce shorts and 3 million hours per week to produce almonds, while Everglades uses 3 million hours of labor per week to produce shorts and 1 million hours per week to produce almonds. As a result, Everglades produces 12 million pairs of shorts and 16 million pounds of almonds, and Denali produces 5 million pairs of shorts and 30 million pounds of almonds. Assume there are no other countries willing to engage in trade, so, in the absence of trade between these two countries, each country consumes the amount of shorts and almonds it produces. Everglades's opportunity cost of producing 1 pair of shorts is4 pounds   of…
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