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[Joseph_E._Stiglitz,_Carl_E._Walsh]_Economics(Bookos.org) (1)

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Price Floors 93

INTERNET CONNECTION: Flawed Deregulation 94

Alternative Solutions 94

REVIEW AND PRACTICE 96

APPENDIX: Elasticity and Slope 98

CHAPTER 5 THE CONSUMPTION DECISION 101

The Basic Problem of Consumer Choice 101

The Budget Constraint 102

Choosing a Point on the Budget Constraint: Individual

Preferences 104

What Happens to Consumption When Income Changes?

105

CASE IN POINT: The Fate of the BTU Tax 107

INTERNET CONNECTION: What We Consume 109

A Closer Look at the Demand Curve 109

Deriving Demand Curves 110

The Importance of Distinguishing Between Income and

Substitution Effects 111

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST: Incentives,

Income Effects, and Substitution Effects 112

Utility and the Description of Preferences 113

Consumer Surplus 117

Looking Beyond the Basic Model 118

How Well Do the Underlying Assumptions Match Reality?

118

Behavioral Economics 119

REVIEW AND PRACTICE 122

APPENDIX: Indifference Curves and the Consumption

Decision 124

Using Indifference Curves to Illustrate Consumer Choices

124

Indifference Curves and Marginal Rates of Substitution

126

Using Indifference Curves to Illustrate Choices 127

Using Indifference Curves to Derive Demand Curves 128

Substitution and Income Effects 128

CHAPTER 6 THE FIRM’S COSTS 131

Profits, Costs, and Factors of Production 132

Production with One Variable Input 132

Types of Costs and Cost Curves 135

xii ∂ CONTENTS

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