What does the point on the budget line,below the budget line,and above the budget line indicate?
Answers
To understand how households make decisions, economists look at what consumers can afford. To do this, we must chart the consumer’s budget constraint. In a budget constraint, the quantity of one good is measured on the horizontal axis and the quantity of the other good is measured on the vertical axis. The budget constraint shows the various combinations of the two goods that the consumer can afford. Consider the situation of José, as shown in Figure 6.1a. José likes to collect T-shirts and movies.
In Figure 6.1a, the number of T-shirts José will buy is on the horizontal axis, while the number of movies he will buy José is on the vertical axis. If José had unlimited income or if goods were free, then he could consume without limit. But José, like all of us, faces a budget constraint. José has a total of $56 to spend. T-shirts cost $14 and movies cost $7.
Plotting the budget constraint is a fairly simple process. Each point on the budget line has to exhaust all $56 of José’s budget. The easiest way to find these points is to plot the intercepts and connect the dots. Each intercept represents a case where José spends all of his budget on either T-shirts or movies.
If José spends all his money on movies, which cost $7, José can buy $56/$7, or 8 of them. This means the y-intercept is the point (0,8). Here, José buys 0 T-shirts and 8 movies.
If José spends all his money on T-shirts, which cost $14, José can buy only 4 of them ($56/$14). This means the x-intercept is the point (4,0). Here, José buys 4 T-shirts and 0 movies.
By connecting these two extremes, you can find every combination that José can afford along his budget line. For example, at point R, José buys 2 T-shirts and 4 movies. This costs him:
T-Shirts @ $14 x 2 = $28
Movies @ $7 x 4 = $28
Total = $24 + $28 = $56
This point indeed exhausts José’s budget.
Answer:
The point on the budget line is two good.