Question

Suppose the price of Good X is $4 and the price of Good Y is $3. If a consumer has a Marginal Rate of Substitution (MRSxy) of 1 for the bundle they are considering, then given their budget constraint, the consumer

a. Cannot reach a higher level of utility given their budget constraint.
b. Would have a higher utility if they bought more of Good X.
c. Would have a higher utility if they bought less of Good X

Answer 1

c. Would have a higher utility if they bought less of Good X

Step-by-step explanation:

Since the marginal rate of substitution is -1, this means that at that point the consumer is indifferent between product X and product Y, but since product X is more expensive than product Y, he/she will increase their utility per dollar if at least one more unit of product Y is bought instead of one unit of product X.