Question

In: Economics

1. The representative consumer (the consumer that his basket of goods is the same as the...

1. The representative consumer (the consumer that his basket of goods is the same as the "average" basket consumed by city dwellers) consumes two goods: Apple and oranges. The price of oranges is 1 dollar per unit and the price of apples is 2 dollars per unit. In year 1 the representative consumer consumed 10 units of oranges and 10 units of apples. The basket in year 1 is used to compute the CPI.

(a) In year 2 the price of oranges went up to 1.1 dollars per unit and the price of apples went up to 2.2 dollars per unit. What is the percentage change in the consumer price index (CPI)?

(b) Assume that income went up in year 2 and the income of the representative consumer is equal to the price of the basket that the consumer bought in year 1. What is the basket that is chosen by the representative consumer in year 2?

(c) Compare the welfare of the consumer in year 2 to his welfare in year 1.

2. Answer question 1 under the assumption that in year 2 the price of oranges went up to 1.2 dollars per unit but the price of apples did not change.

(a) What is the percentage change in the consumer price index (CPI)?

(b) Assume that the income of the representative consumer in year 2 is equal to the price of the basket that the consumer bought in year 1. Compare the basket chosen in year 2 to the basket chosen in year 1.

(c) Compare welfare in year 2 to welfare in year 1.

3. A consumer lives for two periods. His income in period 1 is !Y1 and his income in period 2 is Y . The consumer is free to lend and borrow at zero interest rate ( r =0

!

(a) What is the price of consumption in period 1 in terms of consumption in period 2? (How many units of period 2 consumption must the consumer give up to get an additional unit of consumption in period 1)?

(b) What is the maximum consumption that the consumer can have in the first period?

(c) Draw the budget constraint. In your graph have the endowment point, the slope and the intersections with the horizontal axis and with the vertical axis.

! 2 and!R=1+r=1).!Y1 =Y2 =10.

(d) The government introduces a tax of !T1 =5 in the first period. Use the graph in (c) to show the change in the budget line.

(e) How will the tax effect the consumer's consumption in the first period? How will it effect the consumer's consumption in the second period? (Assume that both goods are normal).

(f) Will the consumption in the first period change by more than 5 units? Why?

(g) Assume now that the government decides to impose the tax in the second period rather than the first. Will this change the budget line? Will this change the choice of consumption?

(h) Assume that initially government spending was zero in both periods. Then the government increased its spending in the first period to G =5 and financed it by

!
taxes of 5 units in the first period. What will happen to national savings? Explain.

4. Answer question 3 under the assumption that !r =0.1 (and !R =1.1 ). To simplify the calculations assume: Y =Y =11 . The questions are repeated here with slight

changes.

!1 2

(a) What is the price of consumption in period 1 in terms of consumption in period 2? (How many units of period 2 consumption must the consumer give up to get an additional unit of consumption in period 1)?

(b) What is the maximum consumption that the consumer can have in the first period?

(c) Draw the budget constraint. In your graph have the endowment point, the slope and the intersections with the horizontal axis and with the vertical axis.

(d) The government introduces a tax of !T1 =5 in the first period. Use the graph in (c) to show the change in the budget line.

(e) How will the tax effect the consumer's consumption in the first period? How will it effect the consumer's consumption in the second period? (Assume that both goods are normal).

(f) Will the consumption in the first period change by more than 5 units? Why?

(g) Assume now that the government decides to impose the tax in the second period rather than the first. Will this change the budget line? Will this change the choice of consumption? (Hint: the tax remains 5 units and not 5.5)

(h) Assume that initially government spending was zero in both periods. Then the government increased its spending in the first period to G =5 and financed it by

!
taxes of 5 units in the first period. What will happen to national savings? Explain.

Solutions

Expert Solution

(b)

(c)

As we can see, in year 2 consumer's basket of good decreases which leads to the decline of the welfare loss of the consumer.


Related Solutions

Consider a basket of consumer goods that costs $60 in the United States. The same basket of goods costs NOK 40 in Norway.
7. Computing real exchange rates Consider a basket of consumer goods that costs $60 in the United States. The same basket of goods costs NOK 40 in Norway. Holding constant the cost of the basket in each country, compute the real exchange rates that would result from the two nominal exchange rates in the following table.
1. A basket of goods costs $8,500 in the U.S. Exact same goods basket costs €7,200...
1. A basket of goods costs $8,500 in the U.S. Exact same goods basket costs €7,200 in Europe. The exchange rate is €.8144/$. A.    What is the over/undervaluation of the €? B.    What is the over/undervaluation of the $? 2. At the start of the year, the exchange rate was $1.35/€. At the end of the year, the exchange rate is $1.43/€. If U.S. inflation was 5% and European inflation was 3%, what has been the nominal and real change...
Two goods are in the consumer basket, goods X and Y. The consumer income is I,...
Two goods are in the consumer basket, goods X and Y. The consumer income is I, price of good X is Px, and price of good Y is Py. Use the consumer model to derive the demand curve for good X. Explain your answer in details. b. Using your answer in part a, clearly explain and show the substitution effect and the income effect.
​A basket of goods for a given consumer includes two goods, X and Z
A basket of goods for a given consumer includes two goods, X and Z. Consumer income is equal to $1,000 and the prices of these two goods are as follows: Px = $20 Pz = $20 This consumer is consuming 10 units of good X. Suppose that over the course of a year, the price of good X changes by - 10% and the price of good Z changes by 10%. How much income would be required for the consumer to afford the same quantity...
1. A basket of goods and services purchased by an average urban consumer had a cost...
1. A basket of goods and services purchased by an average urban consumer had a cost of $340 in the year 2015, $350 in the year 2016, and $360 in the year 2017. You may assume the base year is 2015. The inflation rate between 2015 and 2016 was _____ the inflation rate between 2016 and 2017. Group of answer choices the same as lower than higher than it is impossible to say from the information given 2. Bill’s nominal...
The cost of a typical basket of consumer goods is shown below for six ( 6...
The cost of a typical basket of consumer goods is shown below for six ( 6 ) years. Year Cost of Basket Year Cost of Basket 1 $ 175 4 $ 211 2 $ 183 5 $ 225 3 $ 193 6 $ 236 Required: Calculate the following: 1. The CPI for each year, and the rate of inflation for years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In doing this students with the last name starting with, A to C...
Suppose that the price of the same basket of goods at time 0 is PC0= 100...
Suppose that the price of the same basket of goods at time 0 is PC0= 100 in country C and PD0= 90 in country D, so that the exchange rate is SCD0=10090. Inflation rates are expected to be 10% in country C and 21% in country D, over the foreseeable future.   a) Does PP approximately predict an appreciation or depreciation of currency C? b) What are the expected price levels in the two countries (i.e., PC1 and PD1 ) and...
There are two goods, food F and gas G, and a single representative consumer, with income...
There are two goods, food F and gas G, and a single representative consumer, with income I = $21 000. The current prices of food and gas are pF = $10 and pG = $3. The government decides to raise revenues by putting a $1 tax on the price of gas. As an economic adviser, you raise the point that such a tax is inefficient. You are told it is only worth it to move to a lump sum tax...
2.  Suppose that a hypothetical “consumer market basket” consists only of goods B and C, in the...
2.  Suppose that a hypothetical “consumer market basket” consists only of goods B and C, in the quantities:  B = 10 and C = 5.   Use 2018 as a base year (i.e., 2018 = 100).                                                                    Year 2017      Year 2018     Year 2019 Quantity of Good A                                            3                      4                     5 Price of Good A                                                 $9                  $10                $11 Quantity of Good B                                          10                    10                   10 Price of Good B                                                 $2                    $4                   $6 Quantity of Good C                                            2                      4                      6 Price of Good C                                                 $5                    $6                    $7 e.  If an individual’s nominal income rises 50% from 2018 to 2019, what is the growth rate of their real...
Exchange rate movement Suppose a basket of goods in Paris cost 133 euros and the same...
Exchange rate movement Suppose a basket of goods in Paris cost 133 euros and the same basket purchased in New York cost $153. A. At what exchange rate between euros and dollars is the cost of the basket of goods the same in each City? B. Now suppose that over the next year inflation in France is expected to be 2% while in the US the forecast is for 6% inflation. What exchange rate do you expect a year from today?  
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT