Coach Steroid likes his players to be big, fast, and obedient. If player A is better than player B in two of these three characteristics, then Coach Steroid “strictly prefers” player A to player B. Otherwise, Coach Steroid is indifferent between the two players. Wilbur Westinghouse weights 340 pounds, runs very slowly, and is fairly obedient. Harold Hotpoint weighs 240 pounds, runs very fast, and is very disobedient. Jerry Jacuzzi weighs 150 pounds, runs at average speed, and is extremely obedient.
a) Does Coach Steroid have transitive preferences with respect to the “at least as good as” operator over these three guys only?
After several losing seasons, Coach Steroid decides to change his way of judging players. According to his new preferences, Steroid prefers player A to player B if player A is better in all three of the characteristics that Steroid values. He is indifferent between A and B if they weigh the same, are equally fast, and are equally obedient.
b) Are Coach Steroid’s new preferences complete with respect to the “at least as good as” operator over these three guys only?
c) Are Coach Steroid’s new preferences transitive with respect to the “at least as good as” operator over these three guys only?
i) How about over the entire population of all guys who might be on the team?
- Draw indifference curves and preference direction arrows depicting each of the following preferences:
a) I can't tell the difference between Budweiser beer and Miller beer but I like them both.
b) I love hummus but hate tabouli.
c) I like cheesecake, but after a point I dislike it.
- For the two goods X and Y Janu has the utility function u(X, Y) = X + Y.
a) Find Janu's Marginal Rate of Substitution, assuming X is the horizontal good and Y is the vertical good.
Bori has the utility function v(X, Y) = X2 + 2XY + Y2
b) Find Bori's Marginal Rate of Substitution, assuming X is the horizontal good and Y is the vertical good.
c) Do Bori and Janu have the same preferences? Why or why not.