Question

suppose you and your friend go out for dinner. your friend orders a cheeseburger and fries. when your food first arrives, you ask your friend if you can have one of his fries. he looks at you like you are crazy and says,
o!\ then a few minutes later, after you both have started eating, you ask again, and your friend reluctantly says, \sure. go ahead.\ an economists explanation for your friends change of heart is most likely to be that: your friends total utility declines as he eats more fries, so hes more likely to share with you after hes eaten a few. your friends marginal utility from eating additional fries declines as he eats more of them, so hes more likely to share with you after hes eaten a few. your friends total utility increases as he eats more fries, so hes more likely to share with you after hes eaten a few. your friends marginal utility from eating additional fries increases as he eats more of them, so hes more likely to share with you after hes eaten a few.

Explanation:

The law of diminishing marginal utility states that as a consumer consumes more of a good, the marginal utility (extra satisfaction) from each additional unit decreases. Initially, your friend values the first - few fries highly (high marginal utility), so he refuses. But as he eats some, the marginal utility of additional fries drops, making him more willing to share. Total utility usually increases as more of a good is consumed (up to a point), but the key concept here is marginal utility.

Answer:

Your friend's marginal utility from eating additional fries declines as he eats more of them, so he's more likely to share with you after he's eaten a few.