Question

47 multiple choice 1 point
economists refer to this pattern, the ____________, which means that as a person receives more of a good, the additional or marginal utility from each additional unit of the good declines.

• law of trade - offs
• law of diminishing marginal utility
• production possibilities frontier
• law of increasing marginal utility

48 multiple choice 1 point
the opportunity cost of attending university is likely to include all except which of the following?

• the cost of haircuts received during the school term
• the income you forgo in order to attend classes
• tuition fees
• the cost of required textbooks

Explanation:

Question 47

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• "law of trade - offs" is about making choices between alternatives, not about marginal utility decline.
• "law of diminishing marginal utility" states that as a person consumes more of a good, the marginal (additional) utility from each extra unit decreases, which matches the description.
• "production possibilities frontier" shows the maximum output combinations of two goods, not related to marginal utility.
• "law of increasing marginal utility" is the opposite of what's described (it would mean marginal utility increases with more units, which is not typical in standard economic theory for most goods).

Opportunity cost is the value of the next - best alternative foregone.

• "the income you forgo in order to attend classes" is an opportunity cost as you give up the income you could have earned.
• "tuition fees" are a direct cost of attending university and part of the opportunity cost (you could have used that money elsewhere).
• "the cost of required textbooks" is also a direct cost related to attending university and part of the opportunity cost (the money could be used for other things).
• "the cost of haircuts received during the school term" is a personal expense that is not related to the choice of attending university (you would get haircuts even if you didn't attend university, so it's not an opportunity cost of attending university).

Answer:

B. law of diminishing marginal utility

Question 48