Question

Suppose Jane has chosen a combination of two goods, A and B, such that MU/P of good A is 10 (MUA/PA = 10), and the MU/P of good B is 10 (MUB/PB = 10). To increase utility with the same amount of money, Jane should:________.
a) increase the number of B consumed.
b) increase the number of A consumed.
c) increase the number of A and B consumed.
d) do nothing; she cannot increase utility with the same amount of money.

Answer 1

Answer:

Option D.

Explanation:

A rule for maximizing utility  is that if an individual wants to maximize total utility, for every dollar that is spent, he/she should spend it on the commodity that yields the greatest marginal utility per dollar of expenditure.

In the scenario presented above, we can see that the marginal utilities per dollar for both commodities that Jane consumes are equal, therefore she can neither increase or decrease spending on any particular commodity in order to increase or decrease its marginal utility, this is because she gets an equal amount of marginal utility from both commodities.

Therefore, with the same amount of money, Jane cannot increase utility.