Question
Two people, John and April, got stranded on an island. They can collect fruits (X) or catch fish (Y) for food. Over one day, John
Two people, John and April, got stranded on an island. They can collect fruits (X) or catch fish (Y) for food. Over one day, John (person 1) can produce either X=4 or Y=6, while April (person 2) can produce X=5 or Y=2.
a. Are there reasons for John and April to specialize? How much X and Y would each person produce then? Preferences of John and April are summarized by the following utility functions: U1=X+4Y^0.5, U2=X(Y+1). John and April decide to make fruits their currency, so we can say that the price of one fruit is PX=1. Denote the price of one fish as simply P (so PY=P).
b. Find John's demand for fish - Y1 as a function of P.
c. If John and April specialize and trade using P=1, how much of each good would they consume?
d. John loses his fishing rod, so now John gathers fruits, while April can become a fish monopolist. In this situation, what is good for April? What is bad? Note: no additional math is required here.
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