Question

Paul consumes only books and DVDs. At his current consumption​ bundle, his marginal utility from DVDs is 23 and from books is 5. Each DVD costs ​$11​, and each book costs ​$3. Is he maximizing his​ utility?

Answer 1

Answer:

Paul is not maximizing his utility because MUd/Pd is greater than MUb/Pb

Explanation:

Marginal utility is the extra satisfaction derived from spending an additional unit of money on consuming a particular product or service.

In order to determine if he is maximizing his utility, we must calculate his utility per dollar, and this is done by dividing his Marginal Utility by the price.

Marginal Utility per dollar of DVDs is:

MUd/Pd = 23/11 = 2.09

Marginal Utility per dollar of books is:

MUb/Pb = 5/3 = 1.67

Utility is maximized when MUd/Pd is equal to MUb/Pb and Paul has exhausted his budget.