(BQ) Part 2 book "Microecomomics" has contents: Behind the supply curve - Inputs and costs, monopolistic competition and product differentiation, externalitie, public goods and common resources, the economics of the welfare state, factor markets and the distribution of income, uncertainty, risk, and private information,.and other contents. | CHAPTER The Rational Consumer 10 WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER A CLA M TOO FA R ❱ How consumers choose to spend their income on goods and services ❱ Why consumers make choices by maximizing utility, a measure of satisfaction from consumption ❱ Why the principle of diminishing marginal utility applies to the consumption of most goods and services ❱ How to use marginal analysis to find the optimal consumption bundle ❱ What income and substitution © DAI/Imagestate effects are When Wh Wh n is more of a good thing too mu oo much? R ESTAURANTS OCCASIONALLY offer “all-you-can-eat” specials to entice customers: all-you-can-eat salad bars, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets, and all-you-can-eat fried-clam dinners. But how can a restaurant owner who offers such a special be sure he won’t be eaten out of business? If he charges $ for an all-you-can-eat clam dinner, what prevents his average customer from wolfing down $30 worth of clams? The answer is that even though every once in a while you see someone really take advantage of the offer— heaping a plate high with 30 or 40 fried clams—it’s a rare occurrence. And even those of us who like fried clams shudder a bit at the sight. Five or even 10 fried clams can be a treat, but 30 clams is ridiculous. Anyone who pays for an all-you-can-eat meal wants to make the most of it, but a sensible person knows when one more clam would be one clam too many. Notice that last sentence. We said that customers in a restaurant want to “make the most” of their meal; that sounds as if they are trying to maximize something. And we also said that they will stop when consuming one more clam would be a mistake; that sounds as if they are making a marginal decision. The answer is yes, it is a matter of taste—and economists can’t say much about where tastes come from. But economists can say a lot about how a rational individual goes about satisfying his or her tastes. And that is in fact the way that .
