Skip to main contentSkip to solution

How would the decrease in the price of Good-X impact the budget line, when the price of Good-Y and Income remain unchanged?

  1. The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift outward.
  2. The intercept point of Good-X will shift outward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
  3. The intercept point of Good-X will shift inward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
  4. The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift inward.

Solution

✅ Correct Option: 2

Option 1 -> Both intercepts shifting outward would require both prices to decrease or income to increase, which is not the case here.

Option 2 -> When price of Good-X decreases, the X-intercept (M/Px) increases as you can buy more X with the same income. The Y-intercept (M/Py) remains unchanged since neither price of Y nor income changed.

Option 3 -> X-intercept shifting inward would mean the price of Good-X increased, not decreased.

Option 4 -> Both intercepts shifting inward would require both prices to increase or income to decrease, which contradicts the given scenario.


Hence, Option 2: The intercept point of Good-X will shift outward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged. -> When the price of Good-X decreases, the maximum quantity of Good-X that can be purchased with the given income (M/Px) increases, causing the X-intercept to shift outward (rightward). The Y-intercept (M/Py) remains constant because neither the price of Good-Y nor income has changed. The budget line pivots outward from the Y-intercept, expanding the consumer's affordable consumption set. -> correct

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Left arrow: Previous question
  • Right arrow: Next question
  • S key: Jump to solution
  • Q key: Jump to question