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DIAMOND-WATER PARADOX: The perplexing observation that water, which is more useful than diamonds, has a lower price. If price is related to utility, how can this occur? This paradox was first proposed by classical economists in the 19th century and was subsequently used as a stepping stone for developing the notion of marginal utility and the role it plays in the demand price of a good. The paradox is magically cleared up with an understanding of marginal utility and total utility. People are willing to pay a higher price for goods with greater marginal utility. As such, water which is plentiful has enormous total utility, but a low price because of a low marginal utility. Diamonds, however, have less total utility because they are less plentiful, but a high price because of a high marginal utility.
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AUCTION A formal market exchange in which prospective buyers make bids to purchase a commodity. An auction is an effective way of exchanging commodities by bringing together buyers and sellers. Auctions are commonly used to exchange financial instruments, agricultural commodities, personal assets, and works of art. Three notable types of auctions are English, Dutch, and sealed-bid.
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BROWN PRAGMATOX
[What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a dollar discount store trying to buy either a birthday greeting card for your father or a T-shirt commemorating the first day of spring. Be on the lookout for spoiled cheese hiding under your bed hatching conspiracies against humanity.
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Natural gas has no odor. The smell is added artificially so that leaks can be detected.
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"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. " -- Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader
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BJE
Bell Journal of Economics
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