Question
Consider brothers Eddy and Larry, who, despite growing up in the same household, have quitedifferent personalities. Eddy is known to his friends as steady Eddy
Consider brothers Eddy and Larry, who, despite growing up in the same household, have quitedifferent personalities. Eddy is known to his friends as "steady Eddy" because he likespredictability and wants to know that he will have in the future exactly what he has now. Larry,known to his friends as "crazy Larry," adapts easily to changing circumstances. One month heconsumes everything he earns, saving nothing for the future, and another month he will save everything he earns and live in poverty.
Let c1= the amount of "current consumption" measure in dollars and let c2= the amount of"future consumption" measure in dollars.
- If one brother's preferences can be represented by the utility function U(c1, c2) = 10min(c1, c2), which brother is that?
- If one brother's preferences can be represented by the utility function V(c1, c2) = 5c1+ 5c2, which brother is that?
- Draw the indifference curve for the brother in (a) that passes through the bundle c1= 5 and c2= 5. Label it with the brother's name from (a).
- In the same graph, draw the indifference curve for the brother in (b) that passes through the bundle c1= 5 and c2= 5. Label it with the brother's name from (b).
- Suppose there is a third brother, Daryl, whose preferences are a weighted average of the preferences of the first two brothers. That is, he has a little bit of each of them in him.What might be a good guess for the shape of Daryl's indifference curve that passesthrough the bundle c1= 5 and c2= 5? Draw it and label it with Daryl'sname.
- To know exactly what Daryl's indifference curve looks like, one would need to know the "weights" in the weighted average. That is, if he is more like Larry than Eddy, howwould his indifference curve appear different from the situation where he is more like Eddy than Larry?
Step by Step Solution
There are 3 Steps involved in it
Step: 1
Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions
See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success
Step: 2
Step: 3
Ace Your Homework with AI
Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance
Get Started