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In: Economics

Homer’s Marginal Rate of Substitution for donuts and… beverages is MRS = - B/2D, , where...

Homer’s Marginal Rate of Substitution for donuts and… beverages is MRS = - B/2D, , where D is number of boxes of donuts and B is 40 oz. cans of… beverage. Homer has $300 to spend this semester on these two items. Each donut box (D) costs $10, and each can of beverage costs (B) $5.

Homer is currently consuming 20 donut boxes and 20 beverages this semester.

  
a) Graph Homer’s budget constraint, and show that this is a feasible bundle for Homer (on or inside his budget constraint). Put donuts on the x-axis.
b) Use the MRS and the slope of the budget constraint to show that Homer’s current consumption is not optimal. Draw an indifference curve through the current bundle that reflects the MRS you calculated and the suboptimality of the bundle. You don’t need a precise graph of the indifference curve as long as your graph captures the slope of the IC relative to the slope of the budget line. Lastly, propose a shift in consumption that will increase Homer’s utility. You don’t need to use specific numbers – based on your picture and/or the slopes, where are the bundles that Homer can afford that give higher utility?
c) Solve for Homer’s optimal bundle. Draw a new indifference curve in your graph that shows that this new bundle is optimal. Use the “equal slopes” condition to derive a condition on B and D at the optimal bundle, then plug that in to the budget constraint to find the specific bundle Homer can afford where this condition is true.

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