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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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MARGINAL PRODUCT The change in the quantity of total product resulting from a unit change in a variable input, keeping all other inputs unchanged. Marginal product, usually abbreviated MP, is found by dividing the change in total product by the change in the variable input. Marginal product, which occasionally goes by the alias marginal physical product (MPP), is one of two measures derived from total product. The other is average product.
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PURPLE SMARPHIN
[What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time surfing the Internet looking to buy either galvanized steel storage shelves or a large green chalkboard shaped like the state of Maine. Be on the lookout for poorly written technical manuals.
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This isn't me! What am I?
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, almost 2 million children were employed as factory workers.
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"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. " -- Vince Lombardi
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JFE
Journal of Financial Economics
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