How would the decrease in the price of Good-X impact the budget line, when the price of Good-Y and Income remain unchanged?
- The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift outward.
- The intercept point of Good-X will shift outward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
- The intercept point of Good-X will shift inward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
- The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift inward.
How would the decrease in the price of Good-X impact the budget line, when the price of Good-Y and Income remain unchanged?
- The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift outward.
- The intercept point of Good-X will shift outward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
- The intercept point of Good-X will shift inward and the intercept point of Good-Y will remain unchanged.
- The intercept points of both Good-X and Good-Y will shift inward.
Solution
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
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