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Exam

Name___________________________________

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1) Economists assume that the goal of consumers is to 1)

A) make themselves as well off as possible. B) consume as much as possible.
C) expend all their income. D) do as little work as possible to survive.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 310/310
Topic: Rational Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

2) Utility is 2)
A) easily measured in units called utils.
B) the production of a quasi-public good like electricity or natural gas.
C) subjective and difficult to measure.
D) the consumption of a quasi-public good like electricity or natural gas.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 310/310
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

3) Marginal utility is the 3)

A) extra satisfaction received from consuming one more unit of a product.
B) average satisfaction received from consuming a product.
C) satisfaction achieved when a consumer has had enough of a product.
D) total satisfaction received from consuming a given number of units of a product.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

4) As a consumer consumes more and more of a product in a particular time period, eventually 4)
marginal utility
A) fluctuates. B) is constant. C) declines. D) rises.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

1
5) If a consumer receives 22 units of marginal utility for consuming the first can of soda, 20 units from 5)
consuming the second, and 15 from the third, the total utility of consuming the three units is
A) 57 utility units.
B) 35 utility units.
C) 15 utility units.
D) unknown as more information is needed to determine the answer.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

6) If a consumer receives 20 units of utility from consuming two candy bars, and 25 units of utility 6)
from consuming three candy bars, the marginal utility of the third candy bar is
A) 25 utility units.
B) 20 utility units.
C) 5 utility units.
D) unknown as more information is needed to determine the answer.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

7) If a consumer receives 20 units of utility from consuming two candy bars, and 25 units of utility 7)
from consuming three candy bars, the marginal utility of the second candy bar is
A) 25 utility units.
B) 20 utility units.
C) 5 utility units.
D) unknown as more information is needed to determine the answer.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

8) Total utility 8)
A) is equal to the sum of the marginal utilities of all units consumed.
B) has a constant rate of increase as a person consumes more and more of a good.
C) is negative when marginal utility is declining.
D) cannot decrease as a person consumes more and more of a good.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

2
 9) If, as a person consumes more and more of a good, each additional unit adds less satisfaction than 9)
the previous unit consumed, we are seeing the workings of
A) the law of diminishing marginal utility.
B) the law of demand.
C) the law of increasing marginal opportunity cost.
D) the law of supply.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

10) The law of diminishing marginal utility states that 10)

A) when the extra satisfaction from consuming a good becomes negative, total utility starts
falling, other things constant.
B) the extra satisfaction from consuming a good decreases as more of a good is consumed, other
things constant.
C) eventually total utility falls as more of a good is consumed, other things constant.
D) the extra satisfaction from consuming a good increases slowly as more of a good is
consumed, other things constant.
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

11) Marginal utility can be 11)

A) positive. B) zero.
C) negative. D) positive, negative or zero.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

12) Which of the following is likely to occur as the result of the law of diminishing marginal utility? 12)
A) Sabineʹs utility from her first granola bar is greater than Rachelʹs utility from her second
granola bar.
B) Petraʹs utility from her second apple was less than her satisfaction from her first orange.
C) Wesley enjoyed his second bottle of iced tea less than his first bottle, other things constant.
D) Hudson enjoyed his second slice of pizza more than his first.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

3
13) If, when you consume another piece of candy, your marginal utility is zero, then 13)
A) you want more candy.
B) you have not yet reached the point of diminishing marginal utility.
C) you have maximized your total utility from consuming candy.
D) you should consume less candy.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

14) Consumers have to make tradeoffs in deciding what to consume because 14)
A) the prices of goods vary.
B) there are not enough of all goods produced.
C) they are limited by a budget constraint.
D) not all goods give them the same amount of satisfaction.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Budget Constraint
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

15) If your total satisfaction increases when you consume another unit, your marginal utility must be 15)
A) increasing. B) negative. C) decreasing. D) positive.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

16) If total utility increases at a decreasing rate as a consumer consumes more coffee, then marginal 16)
utility must
A) increase also. B) remains constant.
C) decrease. D) be negative.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

17) An item has utility for a consumer if it 17)

A) has a high price. B) generates enjoyment or satisfaction.
C) is scarce. D) is something everyone else wants.
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

4
18) Suppose your marginal utility from consuming the 3rd slice of cake is zero, then your total utility 18)
from consuming cake is
A) increasing. B) maximized. C) negative. D) decreasing.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

19) Consumers maximize total utility within their budget constraint by 19)
A) buying the goods with the largest marginal utility per dollar spent.
B) spending the same dollar amount for each good.
C) buying the cheapest goods they can find.
D) buying whatever they like the best.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-312/311-312
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

20) If a consumer always buys goods rationally, then 20)

A) the total utilities of the different goods consumed will be equal.
B) the marginal utility of the different goods consumed will be equal.
C) the marginal utility per dollar spent on all goods will be equal.
D) the average utilities of the different goods consumed will be equal.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-312/311-312
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

5
Table 10-1

Quantity of Quantity of
Total Utility Total Utility
Pita Wraps Bubble Tea
1 60 1 40
2 102 2 70
3 132 3 91
4 144 4 106
5 144 5 112
6 138 6 115
7 128 7 115

Keegan has $30 to spend on Pita Wraps and Bubble Tea. The price of a Pita Wrap is $6 and the price of a glass of Bubble Tea
is $3. Table 10-1 shows his total utility from different quantities of the two items.

21) Refer to Table 10-1. What is Keeganʹs optimal consumption bundle? 21)
A) 3 pita wraps and 4 bubble teas B) 3 pita wraps and 3 bubble teas
C) 5 pita wraps and 0 bubble teas D) 4 pita wraps and 2 bubble teas
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

22) Refer to Table 10-1. If Keegan can drink all the bubble tea he wants for free, how many glasses 22)
will he consume?
A) 4 glasses B) 5 glasses C) 6 glasses D) 7 glasses
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

23) Carolyn spends her income on popular magazines and music CDs. If the price of a CD is four 23)
times the price of a magazine and if Carolyn is maximizing her utility, she buys
A) both goods until the marginal utility of the last CD purchased is four times the marginal
utility of the last magazine purchased.
B) four times as much magazines as CDs.
C) four times as much CDs as magazines.
D) both goods until the marginal utility of the last magazine purchased is four times the
marginal utility of the last CD purchased.
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

6
24) Suppose Joe is maximizing total utility within his budget constraint. If the price of the last pair of 24)
jeans purchased is $25 and it yields 100 units of extra satisfaction and the price of the last shirt
purchased is $20, then, using the rule of equal marginal utility per dollar spent, the extra
satisfaction received from the last shirt must be
A) 2,000 units of utility. B) 500 units of utility.
C) 100 units of utility. D) 80 units of utility.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

25) Avner is maximizing total utility by buying sports magazines and protein supplements. For him to 25)
buy more sports magazines,
A) the price of sports magazines has to rise.
B) the price of sports magazines has to fall.
C) the price of protein supplements. has to fall.
D) Since Avner is maximizing his utility, nothing can change the consumption of sports
magazines.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

26) Most people would prefer to drive a luxury car that has all the options, but more people buy less 26)
expensive cars even though they could afford the luxury car because
A) car buyers are irrational.
B) luxury cars cost a lot more than non-luxury cars.
C) the marginal utility per dollar spent on the less expensive car is higher than that spent on
luxury cars.
D) the total utility of less expensive cars is greater than that of luxury cars.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

27) If Valerie purchases ankle socks at $5 and gets 25 units of marginal utility from the last unit, and 27)
bandanas at $3 and gets 12 units of marginal utility from the last bandana purchased, she
A) wants to consume less of both ankle sock and bandanas.
B) wants to consume more ankle socks and fewer bandanas.
C) wants to consume more of bandanas and fewer ankle socks.
D) is maximizing total utility and does not want to change their consumption of ankle socks or
bandanas.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

7
28) If Marlowe obtains 9 units of utility per dollar spent on apples and 6 units of utility per dollar 28)
spent on oranges, then Marlowe
A) should buy fewer oranges and fewer apples.
B) should buy more oranges and fewer apples.
C) should buy more apples and fewer oranges.
D) is maximizing total utility.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

29) If Callum is consuming his utility maximizing bundle and the price of one good rises, what 29)
happens to the marginal utility per dollar spent on this good (MU/P), and what should Callum do?
A) MU/P has increased and Callum should buy less of this good.
B) MU/P has decreased and Callum should buy less of this good.
C) MU/P has decreased and Callum should buy more of this good.
D) MU/P has increased and Callum should buy more of this good.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

30) If Ewan is consuming his utility maximizing bundle and the price of one good falls, what happens 30)
to the marginal utility per dollar spent on this good (MU/P), and what should Ewan do?
A) MU/P has increased and Ewan should buy less of this good.
B) MU/P has decreased and Ewan should buy more of this good.
C) MU/P has decreased and Ewan should buy less of this good.
D) MU/P has increased and Ewan should buy more of this good.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

31) When the price of audio books, a normal good, falls, causing your purchasing power to rise, you 31)
buy more of them due to
A) the deadweight loss effect. B) the elasticity effect.
C) the substitution effect. D) the income effect.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

8
32) When the price of summer tank tops falls and you buy more of them because they are relatively 32)
less expensive, this is called
A) the deadweight loss effect. B) the elasticity effect.
C) the income effect. D) the substitution effect.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

33) The substitution effect of an increase in the price of Raisin Bran refers to 33)
A) the fact that the higher price of Raisin Bran relative to its substitutes, such as Cheerios, cause
consumers to buy less Raisin Bran.
B) the fact that the higher price of Raisin Bran lowers consumerʹs purchasing power, holding
money income constant.
C) the result that consumers will now switch to a substitute good such as Cheerios, and the
demand curve for Raisin Bran shifts to the left.
D) the decrease in the demand for Raisin Bran when its price rises.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

34) The income effect of an increase in the price of salmon 34)

A) refers to the relative price effect - salmon is more expensive compared to other types of fish -
which causes the consumer to buy less salmon.
B) is the change in the demand for salmon when income increases.
C) refers to the effect on a consumerʹs purchasing power which causes the consumer to buy less
salmon, holding all other factors constant.
D) is the change in the demand for other types of fish, say trout, that result from a decrease in
purchasing power.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

9
35) If the price of lattes, a normal good you enjoy, falls, 35)
A) the substitution effect which causes you to increase your latte consumption outweighs the
income effect which causes you to reduce your latte consumption, resulting in more latte
purchased.
B) both the income and substitution effects lead you to buy more lattes.
C) the income effect which causes you to increase your latte consumption outweighs the
substitution effect which causes you to reduce your latte consumption, resulting in more latte
purchased.
D) the income and substitution effects offset each other but the price effect leads you to buy
more lattes.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

36) If the price of muffins, a normal good you enjoy, rises, 36)
A) the income and substitution effects offset each other but the price effect leads you to buy
fewer muffins.
B) the substitution effect which causes you to decrease your muffin consumption outweighs the
income effect which causes you to increase your muffin consumption, resulting in fewer
muffins purchased.
C) both the income and substitution effects lead you to buy fewer muffins.
D) the income effect which causes you to decrease your muffin consumption outweighs the
substitution effect which causes you to increase your muffin consumption, resulting in fewer
muffins purchased.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

37) The demand curve for corn is downward sloping. If the price of corn, an inferior good, falls, 37)
A) the income and substitution effects offset each other but the price effect of an inferior good
leads you to buy less corn.
B) the income effect which causes you to increase your corn purchases is larger than the
substitution effect which causes you to reduce your corn purchases, resulting in a net
increase in quantity demanded.
C) both the income and substitution effects reinforce each other to increase the quantity
demanded.
D) the income effect which causes you to reduce your corn purchases is smaller than the
substitution effect which causes you to increase your corn purchases, resulting in a net
increase in quantity demanded.
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

10
38) The demand curve for canned peas is downward sloping. If the price of canned peas, an inferior 38)
good, rises,
A) the income effect which causes you to increase your canned peas purchases is smaller than
the substitution effect which causes you to reduce your purchases, resulting in a net decrease
in quantity demanded.
B) the income and substitution effects offset each other but the price effect of an inferior good
leads you to buy more canned peas.
C) both the income and substitution effects reinforce each other to decrease the quantity
demanded.
D) the income effect which causes you to reduce your canned peas purchases is smaller than the
substitution effect which causes you to increase your purchases, resulting in a net increase in
quantity demanded.
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

39) Consider a downward-sloping demand curve. When the price of an inferior good increases, the 39)
income and substitution effects
A) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded decreases.
B) work in the same direction to decrease quantity demanded.
C) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded increases.
D) work in the same direction to increase quantity demanded.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

40) Consider a downward-sloping demand curve. When the price of an inferior good decreases, the 40)
income and substitution effects
A) work in the same direction to increase quantity demanded.
B) work in the same direction to decrease quantity demanded.
C) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded decreases.
D) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded increases.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

11
 41) Consider a downward-sloping demand curve. When the price of a normal good increases, the 41)
income and substitution effects
A) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded decreases.
B) work in the same direction to decrease quantity demanded.
C) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded increases.
D) work in the same direction to increase quantity demanded.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

42) Consider a downward-sloping demand curve. When the price of a normal good decreases, the 42)
income and substitution effects
A) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded increases.
B) work in the same direction to increase quantity demanded.
C) work in the same direction to decrease quantity demanded.
D) work in opposite directions and quantity demanded decreases.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

Table 10-2

Quantity of Quantity of
Total Utility Total Utility
Soup (cups) Sandwiches
1 40 1 45
2 60 2 75
3 72 3 102
4 82 4 120
5 88 5 135
6 90 6 145

Table 10-2 above shows Keiraʹs utility from soup and sandwiches. The price of soup is $2 per cup and the price of a
sandwich is $3. Keira has $18 to spend on these two goods.

43) Refer to Table 10-2. What is Keiraʹs marginal utility per dollar spent on the third cup of soup? 43)
A) 72 units of utility B) 36 units of utility
C) 12 units of utility D) 6 units of utility
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

12
44) Refer to Table 10-2. If Keira maximizes her utility, how many units of each good should she buy? 44)
A) 4 cups of soup and 3.5 sandwiches B) 3 cups of soup and 4 sandwiches
C) 1 cup of soup and 5 sandwiches D) 6 cups of soup and 2 sandwiches
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

45) Refer to Table 10-2. Suppose Keiraʹs income increases from $18 to $23 but prices have not changed. 45)
What is her utility maximizing bundle now?
A) 6 cups of soup and 5 sandwiches B) 5 cups of soup and 5 sandwiches
C) 4 cups of soup and 5 sandwiches D) 5 cups of soup and 4 sandwiches
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

46) Refer to Table 10-2. Holding prices constant, when Keiraʹs income changed from $18 to $23, her 46)
utility maximizing bundle changed. Based on your answers to her optimal choices at the two
income levels, what type of goods are soup and sandwiches?
A) Both soup and sandwiches are normal goods.
B) Soup is an inferior good and sandwiches are a normal good.
C) Soup is a normal good and sandwiches are an inferior good.
D) Both soup and sandwiches are inferior goods.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

47) Refer to Table 10-2. Holding prices constant, when Keiraʹs income changed from $18 to $23, what 47)
happens to her total utility and to the marginal utilities of the last cup of soup and the last
sandwich purchased?
A) Her total utility and the marginal utility of the last sandwich consumed increase but marginal
utility of the last cup of soup consumed decreases.
B) Her total utility decreases but the marginal utilities of the last cup of soup and the last
sandwich consumed increase.
C) Her total utility, the marginal utility of the last cup of soup consumed and the marginal
utility of the last sandwich consumed, all increase.
D) Her total utility and the marginal utility of the last cup of soup consumed increase but
marginal utility of the last sandwich consumed decreases.
E) Her total utility increases but the marginal utilities of the last cup of soup and the last
sandwich consumed decrease.
Answer: E
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 314-315/314-315
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

13
 48) Adhira buys chocolates and almonds. She has 3 bars of chocolates and 4 bags of almonds. The 48)
marginal utility of the third chocolate bar is 18 units of utility and the marginal utility from the
fourth bag of almonds is also 18. Is Adhira maximizing her utility?
A) No, she must buy 1 more chocolate bar to equate her quantities of the two goods.
B) No, without information on her income and the prices of the two goods, we cannot answer
the question.
C) No, she must buy cut back to 3 bags of almonds to equate her quantities of the two goods.
D) Yes, the marginal utility from the last unit of each good is equal.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 316/316
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

TRUE/FALSE. Write ʹTʹ if the statement is true and ʹFʹ if the statement is false.

49) If you received negative marginal utility from consuming the 4th slice of pizza, then your total 49)
utility from 4 slices of pizza must be less than your total utility from 3 slices of pizza.
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

50) When diminishing marginal utility sets in, total utility must be negative. 50)
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

51) A consumer maximizes her total utility from a bundle of goods when her marginal utility from 51)
each good is equal.
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

52) The economic model of consumer behavior explains how consumersʹ tastes and preferences are 52)
formed.
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 310/310
Topic: Consumer Behavior
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

53) The income effect of a price increase causes a decrease in the quantity demanded of a normal good. 53)
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

14
 54) The substitution effect of a price increase causes a decrease in the quantity demanded of an inferior 54)
good.
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 317-318/317-318
Topic: Income and Substitution Effects
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

55) What is marginal utility and what is the law of diminishing marginal utility? 55)
Answer: Marginal utility is the change in total satisfaction a person receives from consuming
one additional unit of a good or service. The law of diminishing marginal utility is
the principle that consumers experience diminishing additional satisfaction as they
consume more of a good or service during a given period of time.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311/311
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

56) Eliza consumes 12 cappuccinos and 8 apple turnovers per week. The price of cappuccino 56)
is $4 each and apple turnovers are $1 each.
a. What is the amount of income allocated to cappuccino and apple turnover
consumption?
b. What is the price ratio (the price of cappuccino relative to the price of apple
turnovers)?
c. Explain the meaning of the price ratio you computed.
d. If Eliza maximize utility, what is the ratio of the marginal utility of cappuccino to the
marginal utility of apple turnovers?
e. If the price of apple turnovers falls, will Eliza consume more apple turnovers, fewer
apple turnovers or the same amount of apple turnovers? Explain your answer using the
rule of equal marginal utility per dollar.
Answer: a. Income = $56
b. Price of cappuccino / price of apple turnovers = $4 / $1 = 4
c. To buy a cappuccino, Eliza has to give up 4 apple turnovers.
d. MUcappuccino / MUapple turnovers = Price of cappuccino / Price of apple
turnovers = $4 / $1 = 4
e. If the price of apple turnovers falls, the marginal utilities per dollar will not be
equal. Specifically, MUcappuccino / Price cappuccino < MUapple turnovers / Price
apple turnovers. Eliza can raise her total utility by buying more apple turnovers
and less cappuccino.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

15
57) After getting an A on your economics exam, you decide to go to your favorite Mexican 57)
restaurant to celebrate. You are having trouble deciding whether to order the chipotle
chicken chimichanga or the cilantro seafood enchiladas. Use the rule of equal marginal
utility per dollar to determine which one to purchase: (a) the chimichanga for $8 which
gives you 120 units of utility, or (b) the enchiladas for $15 which gives you 195 units of
utility?
Answer: You should buy the chimichanga because the MU per dollar is 15 while MU per
dollar for the enchiladas is only 13.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

58) Arnie Ziffel has $20 per week to spend on any combination of pineapples and green tea. 58)
The price of a pineapple is $4 and the price of a bottle of green tea is $2. The table below
shows Arnieʹs utility values. Use the table to answer the questions that follow the table.

Quantity of Total Marginal Marginal Quantity Total Marginal Ma

Pineapples Utility Utility Utility per of Green Utility Utility Ut
Dollar Tea Do
1 32 1 28
2 52 2 46
3 64 3 54
4 68 4 60
5 70 5 64
6 71 6 66
7 71 7 67

a. Complete the table by filling in the blank spaces.

b. Suppose Arnold purchases 4 pineapples and 2 bottles of green tea. Is he consuming
the optimal consumption bundle? If so, explain why. If not, what combination should he
buy and why?
Answer: a.
Quantity of Total Marginal Marginal Quantity Total Marginal Ma
Pineapples Utility Utility Utility per of Green Utility Utility Ut
Dollar Tea Do
1 32 32 8 1 28 28
2 52 20 5 2 46 18
3 64 12 3 3 54 8
4 68 4 1 4 60 6
5 70 2 0.5 5 64 4
6 71 1 0.25 6 66 2
7 71 0 0 7 67 1

b. If Arnold purchases 4 pineapples and 2 bottles of green tea, he is not

maximizing his utility. The marginal utility per dollar spent on pineapples = 1 and
the marginal utility per dollar spent on green tea = 9. His total utility from this
bundle is 114 utils. If he buys 3 pineapples and 4 bottles of green tea, he will equate
his marginal utilities per dollar and the total utility from this bundle = 124.

16
 Diff: 2 Page Ref: 311-314/311-314
Topic: Marginal Utility
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Figure 10-1

59) Refer to Figure 10-1. When the price of hoagies increases from $5.00 to $5.75, quantity demanded 59)
decreases from Q1 to Q0 . This change in quantity demanded is due to
A) the price and output effects.
B) the fact that marginal willingness to pay falls.
C) the income and substitution effects.
D) the law of diminishing marginal utility.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 2: Interpret and analyze information presented in different types of graphs
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

60) Refer to Figure 10-1. Which of the following statements is true? 60)
A) Quantities Q0 and Q1 are derived independently of the utility-maximizing model.
B) Quantities Q0 and Q1 may not necessarily be the utility-maximizing quantities of hoagies at
two different prices because we have no information on the consumerʹs budget or the price of
other goods.
C) Quantities Q0 and Q1 are the utility-maximizing quantities of hoagies at two different prices
of hoagies.
D) Quantity Q0 could be a utility-maximizing choice if the price is $5.75, but quantity Q1 may
not be because we have no information on the marginal utility per dollar when price changes.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 2: Interpret and analyze information presented in different types of graphs
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

17
61) In order to derive an individualʹs demand curve for salmon, we would observe what happens to 61)
the utility-maximizing bundle when we change
A) income and hold everything else constant.
B) the price of the product and hold everything else constant.
C) the price of a close substitute and hold everything else constant.
D) tastes and preferences and hold everything else constant.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

62) Along a downward-sloping linear demand curve, 62)

A) the marginal utility from the consumption of each unit of the good and the total utility from
consuming larger quantities remain constant.
B) the marginal utility from the consumption of each unit of the good rises and the total utility
from consuming larger quantities remain constant.
C) the marginal utility from the consumption of each unit of the good and the total utility from
consuming larger quantities increase.
D) the marginal utility from the consumption of each unit of the good falls and the total utility
from consuming larger quantities increases.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

63) Economists Robert Jensen and Nolan Miller reasoned that to be a Giffen good, with an income 63)
effect larger than its substitution effect, a good must be ________ and make up a ________ portion
of a consumerʹs budget.
A) a normal good; very large B) a normal good; very small
C) an inferior good; very small D) an inferior good; very large
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

64) The demand curve for a Giffen good is 64)

A) non-existent. B) upward-sloping.
C) non-linear but downward-sloping. D) vertical.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

18
 65) Giffen goods 65)
A) are theoretical and have never been discovered in the real world.
B) were proven to exist in the 1890s by Sir Robert Giffen.
C) were not shown to actually exist until 2006.
D) have not existed since prior to the Industrial Revolution.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB:

TRUE/FALSE. Write ʹTʹ if the statement is true and ʹFʹ if the statement is false.

66) Each price-quantity combination on a consumerʹs demand curve shows the utility -maximizing 66)
quantity at the given price.
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

67) A Giffen good could be either a normal good or an inferior good. 67)
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

68) The income effect of a price increase for a Giffen good outweighs the substitution effect. 68)
Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

69) The demand curve for an inferior good can never be downward-sloping. 69)
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

70) The demand curve for a luxury good is upward-sloping. 70)

Answer: True False
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 318-320/318-320
Topic: Where Demand Curves Come From
Learning Outcome: Micro 4: Explain how supply and demand function in competitive markets
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

19
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

71) What is a Giffen good? 71)

Answer: A Giffen good is something consumers buy more of when its price rises and buy
less of when its price falls.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

72) What must be true in terms of the income effect, the substitution effect, and the type of 72)
good for the goodʹs demand curve to be upward sloping?
Answer: The income effect would have to be larger than the substitution effect, and the good
would have to be an inferior good.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 320/320
Topic: Giffen Goods
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer
decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

73) Consider the following factors: 73)

a. culture
b. religion
c. customs
d. prices
e. income

Which of the factors above are likely to influence the choices consumers make?
A) a, d, and e only
B) d and e only
C) all the factors except c
D) all the factors except b
E) all the factors listed
Answer: E
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

20
74) What is the common feature displayed by the following items? 74)
a. eating in a newly opened ʺfusionʺ cuisine restaurant
b. attending a Red Sox game in Fenway Park
c. wearing Lucky Brand designer jeans
A) They tend to be consumed by better educated people.
B) They are all highly inelastic goods.
C) The consumption of these goods takes place publicly.
D) The consumption of these goods takes place privately.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

75) Consider a good whose consumption takes place publicly. Your decision to buy that good depends 75)
A) only on the characteristics of the good.
B) only on how many other people buy the good.
C) both on the characteristics of the product and on how many other people are buying the
good.
D) only on the price of the good.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

76) Which of the following does not explain why consumers buy products that many other consumers 76)
are already buying?
A) technology
B) differences in tastes and preferences
C) cost-effective way to gather information about a product
D) the satisfaction people derive by being viewed as ʺfashionableʺ
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

21
77) Identify the one statement that does not demonstrate how social effects influence consumer choice. 77)
A) Companies such as Zappos.com and Netflix invite their consumers to write reviews about
their experience with their products which are then posted on the internet for others to see.
B) Students in an Economics class are required to purchase a textbook assigned by the
professor.
C) Some products that people consume are determined by the social popularity of the products.
D) There is utility gained from consuming goods or services that others are consuming.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

78) Firms pay famous individuals to endorse their products because 78)
A) the firms are irrational and are wasting advertising expenditures.
B) famous people only consume high quality products.
C) famous people obviously know what are the best goods and services.
D) apparently demand is affected not just by the number of people who use a product but also
by the type of person that uses the product.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321-322/321-322
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

79) By hiring Justin Bieber to advertise its electronics Buy Back program, Best Buy is hoping to change 79)
its image and reach a new, younger target market. By using celebrities such as Bieber to endorse
products, companies are hoping that its customers will respond positively and business will
increase. All of the following are reasons why celebrity endorsements may increase sales for
advertised products except
A) consumers can be sure that a company would not pay a large sum for a celebrity to endorse
its product unless the product is the best available in the market.
B) consumers may feel closer to celebrities if they purchase the products being endorsed.
C) consumers may believe that celebrities have more information than they do about the
advertised product.
D) consumers may believe they will appear more fashionable if they purchase products
endorsed by certain celebrities.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

22
80) A network externality occurs when 80)
A) there is production cost savings from being networked with suppliers.
B) the usefulness of a good is affected by celebrities who use the good.
C) the usefulness of a good is affected by how many others use the good.
D) there is production cost savings from being networked with buyers.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

81) Once a product becomes established, network externalities may create ________ costs that make 81)
consumers reluctant to buy a new product with better technology.
A) implicit B) switching C) marginal D) external
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

82) A significant downside to network externalities is that 82)

A) firms may network with unethical suppliers or distributors.
B) there may be large switching costs to firms changing technologies.
C) there may be large switching costs to consumers of changing products so that consumers end
up using products with inferior technologies.
D) the costs of hiring celebrity endorsements may be very high.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

83) All of the following products are most likely to have significant network externalities except 83)
A) fax machines. B) popular board games.
C) cell phones. D) cat food.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

23
84) Which of the following is used to explain why a consumerʹs willingness to buy Microsoft Office 84)
increases as the number of other people who use Microsoft Office increases?
A) the income effect of a price change B) market failure
C) network externalities D) diminishing marginal utility
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

85) A good is path dependent when 85)

A) it can only be used in one way.
B) people who move location follow the path of people who moved before them.
C) the first technology that was adopted has an advantage over a better technology that came
later.
D) consumers get utility from consuming goods that others are consuming, such as restaurants.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

86) A standard which came to the market first, such as the QWERTY letter layout in typewriters, can 86)
become entrenched (this layout is still used in computer keyboards today). What is this
phenomenon called?
A) sunk cost B) comparative advantage
C) network externalities D) path dependency
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

87) Many economists do not believe that network externalities lock consumers into the use of products 87)
that have technology inferior to other, similar products. These economists believe that
A) consumers are always rational.
B) the government will prevent products with inferior technology from being sold to
consumers.
C) in practice, the gains from using a superior technology exceed the losses consumers incur
from switching costs.
D) there is no good evidence that switching costs exist.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322-323/322-323
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

24
88) Economists would refer to the increase in product sales because of celebrity endorsements as 88)
being the result of
A) network externalities. B) social influence.
C) the endowment effect. D) the ultimatum game.
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

89) One explanation for the increase in product sales because of celebrity endorsements is that people 89)
seem to receive ________ from goods they believe are popular.
A) diminishing utility B) increased path dependency
C) greater network externalities D) more utility
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

90) Many airlines have not reduced or eliminated fuel surcharges despite the price of oil dropping. A 90)
logical reason for this is that the decline in fuel prices
A) shifted the supply curve for airline tickets to the right, and at the same time a decrease in
demand for airline tickets shifted the demand curve to the left, so prices still increased.
B) shifted the supply curve for airline tickets to the left, and at the same time a decrease in
demand for airline tickets shifted the demand curve to the left, so prices did not decline.
C) shifted the supply curve for airline tickets to the right, and at the same time an increase in
demand for airline tickets shifted the demand curve to the right, so prices still increased.
D) shifted the supply curve for airline tickets to the left, and at the same time an increase in
demand for airline tickets shifted the demand curve to the right, so prices did not decline.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 325-326/325-326
Topic: Business Implications of Fairness
Learning Outcome: Micro 4: Explain how supply and demand function in competitive markets
AACSB: Analytic Skills

91) Research by Daniel Kahneman, Jack Knetch, and Richard Thaler has shown that companies like 91)
airlines were explicitly able to include a fuel surcharge in their prices because
A) consumers had no choice but to pay the price of the surcharges due to the lack of competition
in the industry.
B) consumers see it as fair for firms to raise prices after an increase in costs.
C) a government-imposed price ceiling on airline ticket prices left the airlines not other way to
cover the increase in costs.
D) adding a separate fuel surcharge to the price of airline tickets did not actually increase the
price of the tickets.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 325-326/325-326
Topic: Business Implications of Fairness
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

25
92) For which of the following products is social influence likely to have the greatest impact? 92)
A) restaurants B) high-blood pressure medication
C) school textbook D) toothpaste
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

93) Jamal, Lawson and Kyle have been standing in line for almost an hour waiting to be served at 93)
Kirala, a popular new Japanese restaurant. It is possible that some of the people in line wonʹt be
served at all before the restaurant closes. Which of the following could explain why the restaurant
does not simply raise prices high enough to eliminate the lines?
a. In situations where consumption takes place publicly, demand for the product is also
influenced by how many other people are buying the product. Consequently, a popular restaurant
that increased its prices enough to eliminate lines might find that it had also eliminated its
popularity.
b. Firms may sometimes not raise their prices for fear that it violates peopleʹs sense of fairness
and might alienate customers.
c. The demand for restaurant meals is relatively elastic and if the firm raise prices it will lower its
profits.
A) a only B) a and c only C) a and b only D) a, b, and c
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

94) Which of the following is an experiment which tests whether fairness is important in consumer 94)
decision making?
A) the ultimatum game B) the preferential treatment game
C) the fair trade principle D) the behavioral experiment
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 323-324/323-324
Topic: Experimental Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

26
 95) In the ultimatum game, allocators usually offer recipients at least a 40 percent share of the money, 95)
and recipients almost always reject offers of less than a 10 percent share. Which of the following
does not explain why allocators offer recipients a relatively generous share and why recipients
reject meager offers?
A) People can and often do reject offers that offend their sense of fairness even if doing so means
taking a monetary loss.
B) Allocators can count on recipients to ignore all considerations except financial benefit.
C) Fear of arousing outrage and abhorrence could influence economic decisions.
D) Some people are careful not to engage in economic behavior that might offend and alienate
others.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 323-324/323-324
Topic: Experimental Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

96) Economists have used ________ and ________ in experiments designed to determine whether 96)
consumers care about fairness when they make decisions.
A) the income effect; the substitution effect
B) the ultimatum game; the dictator game
C) Giffen goods; luxury goods
D) network externalities; the endowment effect
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 323-324/323-324
Topic: Experimental Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

TRUE/FALSE. Write ʹTʹ if the statement is true and ʹFʹ if the statement is false.

97) A network externality refers to a situation in which the usefulness of a product decreases with the 97)
number of consumers who use it.
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

98) Economists have shown that when the ultimatum game experiment is carried out, both allocators 98)
and recipients act as if fairness is important.
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 323-324/323-324
Topic: Experimental Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

27
 99) The iPod is a product without any significant network externalities. 99)
Answer: True False
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 322/322
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

100) Why might network externalities result in products that contain inferior technologies? 100)
Answer: Network externalities can create significant switching costs related to changing
products. When a product becomes established, consumers may find it too costly to
switch to a new product that contains a better technology.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 322-323/322-323
Topic: Network Externalities
Learning Outcome: Micro 22: Explain how externalities affect market efficiency
AACSB: Analytic Skills

101) List three reasons why demand for a product will often increase if the product is endorsed 101)
by a celebrity.
Answer: 1. Consumers may believe that the celebrity is particularly knowledgeable about the
product.
2. Buying the product may make people feel closer to the celebrity.
3. Buying the product may make people feel fashionable.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 321/321
Topic: Social Influences on Decision Making
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major
theories about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

102) Professor Parallax chooses two students in his economics class, Jasmine and Cassandra, to 102)
participate in the ultimatum game. He chooses Jasmine to be the allocator and Cassandra
to be the recipient. He gives Jasmine $50 and as the allocator, she gets to decide how to
split the money with Cassandra. If Cassandra decides to accept the amount allocated to
her by Jasmine, both students get to keep the money. If Cassandra decides to reject her
allocation, neither student gets to keep the money. How much will each student end up
with if each student acts as if fairness is important? How much will each student end up
with if only Cassandra acts as if fairness is important? How much will each student end
up with if neither student cares about fairness?
Answer: If both students care about fairness, each will end up with $25. If only Cassandra,
the recipient, cares about fairness, each student will end up with nothing since she
would reject any split of the money other than $25 and $25. If neither student cares
about fairness, Jasmine will give up as little as possible without leaving Cassandra
with nothing. The split in this case will be $49.99 to Jasmine and $0.01 to Cassandra.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 323-324/323-324
Topic: Experimental Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major
theories about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

28
 103) Music writer Anthony Kuzminski praised rock star Tom Petty in a 2007 article in the 103)
online Unrated Magazine. Kuzminski wrote: ʺSomething Petty never can get enough credit
for is his fan-friendly attitude. He kept ticket prices for [his concerts] at $50 when other
acts this summer are charging upwards of $100 for stadium gigs. Petty could charge more,
but he doesnʹt see the point. He has stated time and time again he still makes millions
when heʹs on the road, regardless of his ticket prices. He is the last of the fan friendly rock
stars out there.ʺ Use economic reasoning to write a rationale for Tom Pettyʹs decision to
charge prices for his bandʹs (ʺTom Petty and the Heartbreakersʺ) concerts that are less than
market clearing prices.
Source: Anthony Kuzminski, ʺTom Petty & The Heartbreakers at the Vic Theaterʺ
http://www.unratedmagazine.com/
Answer: Tickets to Tom Pettyʹs concerts consistently sell at prices lower than tickets to
concerts by other well-known rock bands. This means that he and the
Heartbreakers earn lower profits in the short run but his actions ensure the loyalty
of concert goers, and profits, in the long run.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 324-325/324-325
Topic: Business Implications of Fairness
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major
theories about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

104) What is behavioral economics? 104)

A) the study of how people behave in the face of scarcity
B) the study of situations in which people act in ways that are not economically rational
C) the study of how people make wealth-maximizing decisions
D) the study of how people make decisions at the margin
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 326-327/326-327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

105) The observation that people tend to value something more highly when they own it than when 105)
they donʹt is called the
A) endorsement effect. B) path dependent effect.
C) endowment effect. D) wealth effect.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

29
106) What is the endowment effect? 106)
A) the tendency of firms to use celebrities endowed with good looks to promote their products
B) the tendency for economic agents with abundant resources to consume a proportionately
greater quantity of goods and services
C) the phenomenon that economic agents are endowed with different qualities and abilities so
that trade among individuals increase efficiency
D) the tendency of people to be unwilling to sell something they already own even if they are
offered a price that is greater than the price they would be willing to pay to buy the good if
they didnʹt already own it.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

107) The endowment effect suggests that that people 107)

A) have a strong sense of fairness.
B) act in ways to distort market prices.
C) have a strong attachment to their entitlement, regardless of whether they paid to acquire
them.
D) are concerned about the welfare of others.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

108) If you exhibit the endowment effect as a decision maker, then you are 108)
A) deciding on the basis of sunk costs.
B) ignoring non-monetary opportunity costs.
C) buying something you canʹt really afford because you expect to save in the future.
D) consuming based on celebrity endorsements.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 331/331
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

30
109) Which of the following demonstrates the endowment effect? 109)
A) Isabella was not willing to part with her ʺRobert Pattinsonʺ poster although she was offered
$100 for it, a sum greater than what it costs to purchase another such poster.
B) Whelan inherits a cottage in Cape Cod from his grandfather and is unwilling to sell it for
sentimental reasons.
C) If you received a good as a gift, you are less likely to attach a monetary value to the good.
D) Robert Pattinson commands a premium in the movie industry because he is endowed with
dashing looks.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 331/331
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

110) The average price of gasoline in your neighborhood is $3.53 per gallon. Your neighbor, Diana tells 110)
you that you can ʺsave a lotʺ by frequenting a gas station 20 miles outside your neighborhood
where the price of gasoline is $3.46 per gallon However, she cautions you that there usually long
lines at that station. Is her suggestion beneficial to you?
A) Yes, the lower price of gasoline at the rival station increases my purchasing power and
enables me to consume more of other goods.
B) No, if one factors in the non-monetary opportunity costs (driving time and waiting in line), it
could prove more costly to go to the lower-priced gasoline station.
C) Yes, since gasoline is a necessity for car owners, the total cost savings would be relatively
substantial.
D) No, my friend is misled; clearly, the lower priced gasoline must be of inferior quality and
could damage vehicles.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 20: Apply the concepts of opportunity cost, marginal analysis, and present value to
make decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

31
111) Consider the following hypothetical scenarios: 111)
Scenario A: You are about to purchase a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for $175 and a t -shirt for
$45. The sales attendant at the store tells you that the pair of jeans you wish to buy is on sale for
$160 at another store, located about a 20-minute drive away.
Scenario B: You are about to purchase a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for $175 and a t -shirt for
$45. The sales attendant at the store tells you that the t -shirt you wish to buy is on sale for $30 at
another store, located about a 20-minute drive away.

Based on standard economic theory, under which scenario would you make the 20 -minute trip to
the other store?
A) Scenario A because the pair of jeans is a very expensive item and $15 saving is quite
substantial
B) Scenario B because a $15 saving amounts to a substantial discount (about 33 percent)
C) in either scenario if I think a $15 savings is worth the 20 -minute trip
D) in none of these scenarios if I think the $15 saving is not worth the 20 -minute trip
E) C and D are correct answers.
Answer: E
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

112) Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted the following experiments by 112)
asking a sample of people the following questions:
Scenario A: ʺImagine that you have decided to see a play and paid the admission price of $10 per
ticket. As you enter the theater you discover that you have lost the ticket. The seat was not marked
and the ticket cannot be recovered. Would you pay $10 for another ticket?ʺ
Scenario B: ʺImagine that you have decided to see a play where admission is $10 per ticket. As you
enter the theater you discover that you have lost a $10 bill. Would you still pay $10 for a ticket for
the play?ʺ

As long as additional tickets are available, thereʹs no meaningful difference between losing $10 in
cash before buying a ticket, and losing the $10 ticket after buying it. In both cases, you are out $10.
Yet, far more subjects (88 percent) in Scenario B say they would pay $10 for another ticket and see
the play while in Scenario A, only 46 percent of the subjects say they would be willing to spend
another $10 to see the play.

Which of the following is the best explanation for the results of the experiment?
A) The endowment effect applies in Scenario A since people already own the ticket and
therefore it is more valuable but this is not so in Scenario B.
B) In Scenario A, people make an immediate connection between the lost ticket and the play and
feel poorer by incorrectly assigning a greater value to the value of the ticket whereas in
Scenario B, they do not make the connection between the lost $10 bill and the play.
C) In Scenario B, people had not anticipated spending an additional $10 so in effect the price of
the ticket is $20 and not $10 whereas in Scenario A, the price of the ticket is still $10.
D) The net benefit derived from watching the play is lower in Scenario A where the effective cost
is $20 compared to the net benefit in Scenario B.
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

32
113) Most film processing companies have a policy of printing every picture on a roll of film and 113)
allowing customers to request a refund for pictures that were not clearly developed. The
companies do this knowing that most customers do not ask for refunds. This is an example of
consumers
A) being overly optimistic about their future behavior.
B) not taking nonmonetary opportunity costs into account.
C) not making themselves aware of the policy regarding refunds.
D) failing to ignore sunk costs.
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 327/327
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

114) Sunk costs 114)

A) are important for optimal decision making.
B) are costs that firms sink into marketing.
C) are costs associated with repairing something you already own.
D) are costs that have already been paid and cannot be recaptured in any significant way.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 328/328
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

115) Which of the following is a common mistake consumers commit when they make decisions? 115)
A) They take into account nonmonetary opportunity costs but ignore monetary costs.
B) They are overly pessimistic about their future behavior.
C) They sometimes value fairness too much.
D) They fail to ignore sunk costs.
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 328/328
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

116) Which of the following is not a common mistake made by consumers? 116)
A) the failure to take into account the implicit costs of an activity
B) being overly pessimistic about their future behavior
C) being overly optimistic about their future behavior
D) the failure to ignore sunk costs
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 329/329
Topic: Behavioral Economics
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

33
117) Grace Makutsi finally bought a pair of blue shoes that she had been coveting for a long time. In 117)
less than a week she discovered that the shoes were uncomfortable. Grace went back to wearing
her old pair and stashed away the new pair. When asked by her boss, Mme. Ramotswe why does
she not simply give away the new pair, she said: ʺBut I paid so much for them.ʺ Graceʹs behavior
A) ignores the fact that the purchase price is now a sunk cost and has no bearing on whether she
should give them away or not.
B) supports the endowment effect which states that ownership of an item makes it more
valuable.
C) is rational because the more you pay for an item the more valuable it is.
D) is rational: she should not discard a valuable item.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 328/328
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

118) Standard economic theory asserts that sunk costs are irrelevant in making economic decisions, yet 118)
studies conducted by behavioral economists reveal that sunk costs often affect economic decisions.
Which of the following could explain this observation?
A) People measure the value of a good in terms of its purchase price.
B) If consumers maximize their utility, it makes sense to consider the full purchase price of a
product in their consumption decisions.
C) Sunk costs have a higher opportunity cost than costs that can be recovered.
D) Even though sunk costs cannot be recovered, it has been incurred and therefore should be
treated as part of the productʹs value.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 328/328
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 11: Explain how to measure consumer preferences and discuss the major theories
about consumer choice
AACSB: Analytic Skills

34
119) Many celebrities are paid to endorse products, but celebrity endorsements do come with risks. 119)
Once a firm is associated with a celebrity, consumers associate the product with the celebrity. This
association can turn negative if the celebrity gets arrested or becomes associated with an
embarrassing scandal. Should a company whose celebrity endorser was just arrested be guided by
the amount it has already poured into making ads featuring the celebrity in its decision about
whether or not to cancel the ad campaign?
A) No, although the amount spent to launch the campaign cannot be recovered, the firm can still
reap some benefit by taking out another ad in support of the celebrity.
B) Yes, a firm must take in all costs in deciding whether or not to yank the campaign. If the
revenue loss (due to the negative publicity) is small compared to the cost of the campaign,
then it makes sense to continue the campaign.
C) Yes, even in the case of negative publicity, celebrity endorsements really do have a significant
effect on consumer choice so the amount already spent to purchase this endorsement is
relevant.
D) No, the amount spent to launch the campaign is a sunk cost; the firmʹs primary concern at
this point is the effect of the negative publicity on the productʹs image.
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 332-333/332-333
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Analytic Skills

120) Arnold Kim began blogging about Apple products during his fourth year of medical school. Kimʹs 120)
Website, MacRumors.com, became so successful that he decided to give up his medical career and
work full time on his Website, despite the nearly $200,000 he had invested in his education. In
making his decision, Kim decided to ignore the money and time he spent on his education.
Economists would say that Kim made a
A) poor decision since doctors are in greater demand than bloggers.
B) poor decision since he had already invested his time and money on his medical career.
C) rational decision to ignore these sunk costs.
D) hasty decision by not waiting to recoup his financial investment before giving up his medical
career.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 328-329/328-329
Topic: Sunk Cost
Learning Outcome: Micro 10: Explain how the factors of utility and budgets influence consumer decisions
AACSB: Reflective Thinking

35
Other documents randomly have
different content
with such mutual self-complacency: whose opinions change so much
without any change in the author’s mind; who lives so entirely in the
‘present ignorant thought,’ without the smallest ‘discourse of reason
looking before or after.’ Mr. Southey is a man incapable of reasoning
connectedly on any subject. He has not strength of mind to see the
whole of any question; he has not modesty to suspend his judgment
till he has examined the grounds of it. He can comprehend but one
idea at a time, and that is always an extreme one; because he will
neither listen to, nor tolerate any thing that can disturb or moderate
the petulance of his self-opinion. The woman that deliberates is lost.
So it is with the effeminate soul of Mr. Southey. Any concession is
fatal to his consistency; and he can only keep out of one absurdity by
the tenaciousness with which he stickles for another. He calls to the
aid of his disjointed opinions a proportionate quantity of spleen; and
regularly makes up for the weakness of his own reasons, by charging
others with bad motives. The terms knave and fool, wise and good,
have undergone a total change in the last twenty years: the former he
applies to all those who agreed with him formerly—the latter to all
those who agree with him now. His public spirit was then a prude
and a scold; and ‘his poor virtue,’ turned into a literary prostitute, is
grown more abusive than ever. Wat Tyler and the Quarterly Review
are an illustration of these remarks. The author of Wat Tyler was an
Ultra-jacobin; the author of Parliamentary Reform is an Ultra-
royalist; the one was a frantic demagogue; the other is a servile
court-tool: the one maintained second-hand paradoxes; the other
repeats second-hand common-places: the one vented those opinions
which gratified the vanity of youth; the other adopts those prejudices
which are most conducive to the convenience of age: the one saw
nothing but the abuses of power; the other sees nothing but the
horrors of resistance to those abuses: the one did not stop short of
general anarchy; the other goes the whole length of despotism; the
one vilified kings, priests, and nobles; the other vilifies the people:
the one was for universal suffrage and perfect equality; the other is
for seat-selling, and the increasing influence of the Crown: the one
admired the preaching of John Ball; the other recommends the
Suspension of the Habeas Corpus, and the putting down of the
Examiner by the sword, the dagger, or the thumb-screw; for the pen,
Mr. Southey tells us, is not sufficient. We wonder that in all this
contempt which our prose-poet has felt at different times for
different persons and things, he has never felt any dissatisfaction
with himself, or distrust of his own infallibility. Our differing from
others sometimes staggers our confidence in our own conclusions: if
we had been chargeable with as many contradictions as Mr. Southey,
we suppose we should have had the same senseless self-sufficiency. A
changeling is your only oracle. Those who have undergone a total
change of sentiment on important questions, ought certainly to learn
modesty in themselves, and moderation towards others; on the
contrary, they are generally the most violent in their own opinions,
and the most intolerant towards others; the reason of which we have
shewn elsewhere, to the satisfaction of the proprietor of the Old
Times. Before we have done, we shall, perhaps, do the same thing to
the satisfaction of the publisher of the Quarterly Review; for the Mr.
Murrays and the Mr. Walters, the patrons of the band of gentlemen-
pensioners and servile authors, have ‘a sort of squint’ in their
understanding, and look less to the dirty sacrifices of their drudges,
or the dirtier they are ready to make, than to their standing well with
that great keeper, the public, for purity and innocence. The band of
gentlemen-pensioners and servile authors do not know what to make
of this, and hardly believe it: we shall in time convince them.
But to proceed to our extracts:—
 Morceau I.

Wat Tyler. Hob—I have only six groats in the world,

And they must soon by law be taken from me.

Hob. Curse on these taxes—one succeeds another—

Our ministers—panders of a king’s will—
Drain all our wealth away—waste it in revels—
And lure or force away our boys, who should be
The props of our old age!—to fill their armies,
And feed the crows of France! Year follows year,
And still we madly prosecute the war;—
Draining our wealth—distressing our poor peasants—
Slaughtering our youths—and all to crown our Chiefs
With glory!—I detest the hell-sprung name.

Tyler. What matters me who wears the crown of France?

Whether a Richard or a Charles possess it?
They reap the glory—they enjoy the spoil—
We pay—we bleed! The sun would shine as cheerly,
The rains of heaven as seasonably fall,
Tho’ neither of these royal pests existed.

Hob. Nay—as for that, we poor men should fare better!

No legal robbers then should force away
The hard-earn’d wages of our honest toil.
The Parliament for ever cries more money,
The service of the State demands more money.
Just heaven! of what service is the State?

Tyler. Oh! ’tis of vast importance! Who should pay for

The luxuries and riots of the court?
Who should support the flaunting courtier’s pride,
Pay for their midnight revels, their rich garments,
Did not the State enforce?—Think ye, my friend,
That I—a humble blacksmith, here at Deptford,
Would part with these six groats—earn’d by hard toil,
All that I have! to massacre the Frenchmen;
Murder as enemies men I never saw,
Did not the State compel me!
(Tax-gatherers pass by.) There they go,
Privileg’d r——s!

Morceau II.

Piers Fare not the birds well as from spray to spray

Piers. Fare not the birds well, as from spray to spray
Blithsome they bound—yet find their simple food
Scattered abundantly?

Tyler. No fancied boundaries of mine and thine

Restrain their wanderings: Nature gives enough
For all; but Man, with arrogant selfishness,
Proud of his heaps, hoards up superfluous stores
Robb’d from his weaker fellows, starves the poor,
Or gives to pity what he owes to justice!

Piers. So I have heard our good friend John Ball preach.

Alice. My father, wherefore was John Ball imprisoned?

Was he not charitable, good, and pious?
I have heard him say that all mankind are brethren,
And that like brethren they should love each other;—
Was not that doctrine pious?

Tyler. Rank sedition—

High treason, every syllable, my child!
The priests cry out on him for heresy;
The nobles all detest him as a rebel;
And this good man, this minister of Christ,
This man, the friend and brother of mankind,
Lingers in the dark dungeon!

Morceau III.

Tyler. Piers, I have not been idle,

I never ate the bread of indolence—
Could Alice be more thrifty than her mother?
Yet but with one child, and that one, how good
Thou knowest; I scarcely can provide the wants
Of nature: look at these wolves of the law,
They come to drain me of my hard-earn’d wages.
I have already paid the heavy tax
Laid on the wool that clothes me—on my leather—
On all the needful articles of life!
And now three groats (and I work’d hard to earn them)
The Parliament demands—and I must pay them,
Forsooth, for liberty to wear my head.

Enter Tax-gatherers.

Collector. Three groats a-head for all your family.

Piers. Why is this money gathered?—’tis a hard tax
On the poor labourer!—it can never be
That government should thus distress the people.
Go to the rich for money—honest labour
Ought to enjoy its fruits.

Col. The State wants money.

War is expensive—’tis a glorious war,
A war of honour, and must be supported.—
Three groats a-head.

Tyler. There, three for my own head,

Three for my wife’s!—What will the State tax next?

Col. You have a daughter.

Tyler. She is below the age—not yet fifteen.

Col. You would evade the tax.—

Tyler. Sir Officer,

I have paid you fairly what the law demands.

[Alice and her Mother enter the Shop. The Tax-gatherers go to her. One
of them lays hold of her. She screams. Tyler goes in.]

Col. You say she’s under age.

[Alice screams again. Tyler knocks out the Tax-gatherer’s brains. His
Companions fly.]

Piers. A just revenge.

Tyler. Most just indeed; but in the eye of the law

’Tis murder—and the murderer’s lot is mine.

Morceau IV.—Song.

‘When Adam delv’d and Eve span,

‘Who was then the gentleman?’
Wretched is the infant’s lot,
Born within the straw-roof’d cot!
Be he generous, wise, or brave,
He must only be a slave,
Long, long labour, little rest,
Still to toil to be oppress’d;
 Still to toil to be oppress d;
Drain’d by taxes of his store,
Punish’d next for being poor;
That is the poor wretch’s lot,
Born within the straw-roof’d cot.

While the peasant works—to sleep;

What the peasant sows—to reap;
On the couch of ease to lie,
Rioting in revelry:
Be he villain, be he fool,
Still to hold despotic rule,
Trampling on his slaves with scorn;
This is to be nobly born.
‘When Adam delv’d and Eve span,
‘Who was then the gentleman?’

Morceau V.

John Ball. Friends! Brethren! for ye are my brethren all;

Englishmen met in arms to advocate
The cause of freedom! hear me! pause awhile
In the career of vengeance; it is true
I am a priest; but, as these rags may speak,
Not one who riots in the poor man’s spoil,
Or trades with his religion. I am one
Who preach the law of Christ, and in my life
Would practise what he taught. The Son of God
Came not to you in power:—humble in mien,
Lowly in heart, the man of Nazareth
Preach’d mercy, justice, love: ‘Woe unto ye,
Ye that are rich:—if that ye would be saved,
Sell that ye have, and give unto the poor.’
So taught the Saviour: oh, my honest friends!
Have ye not felt the strong indignant throb
Of justice in your bosoms, to behold
The lordly baron feasting on your spoils?
Have you not in your hearts arraign’d the lot
That gave him on the couch of luxury
To pillow his head, and pass the festive day
In sportive feasts, and ease, and revelry?
Have you not often in your conscience ask’d
Why is the difference, wherefore should that man
No worthier than myself, thus lord it over me,
And bid me labour, and enjoy the fruits?
Th G d ithi b t h d th !
The God within your breasts has argued thus!
The voice of truth has murmur’d; came he not
As helpless to the world?—shines not the sun
With equal ray on both?—do ye not feel
The self-same winds of heaven as keenly parch ye?
Abundant is the earth—the Sire of all
Saw and pronounced that it was very good.
Look round: the vernal fields smile with new flowers,
The budding orchard perfumes the soft breeze,
And the green corn waves to the passing gale.
There is enough for all, but your proud baron
Stands up, and, arrogant of strength, exclaims,
‘I am a lord—by nature I am noble:
These fields are mine, for I was born to them,
I was born in the castle—you, poor wretches,
Whelp’d in the cottage, are by birth my slaves.’
Almighty God! such blasphemies are uttered!
Almighty God! such blasphemies believ’d!

Tom Miller. This is something like a sermon.

Jack Straw. Where’s the bishop

Would tell you truths like these?

Hob. There was never a bishop among all the apostles.

John Ball. My brethren!

Piers. Silence, the good priest speaks.

John Ball. My brethren, these are truths, and weighty ones

Ye are all equal; nature made ye so.
Equality is your birthright;—when I gaze
On the proud palace, and behold one man
In the blood-purpled robes of royalty,
Feasting at ease, and lording over millions;
Then turn me to the hut of poverty,
And see the wretched labourer, worn with toil,
Divide his scanty morsel with his infants;
I sicken, and, indignant at the sight,
‘Blush for the patience of humanity.’

Jack Straw. We will assert our rights.

Morceau VI.
Tyler. King of England,
Petitioning for pity is most weak,
The sovereign people ought to demand justice.
I killed your officer, for his lewd hand
Insulted a maid’s modesty; your subjects
I lead to rebel against the Lord’s anointed,
Because his ministers have made him odious:
His yoke is heavy, and his burden grievous.
Why do we carry on this fatal war,
To force upon the French a king they hate;
Tearing our young men from their peaceful homes;
Forcing his hard-earn’d fruits from the honest peasant;
Distressing us to desolate our neighbours?
Why is this ruinous poll-tax imposed,
But to support your court’s extravagance,
And your mad title to the crown of France?
Shall we sit tamely down beneath these evils,
Petitioning for pity?
King of England!
Why are we sold like cattle in your markets—
Deprived of every privilege of man?
Must we lie tamely at our tyrant’s feet,
And, like your spaniels, lick the hand that beats us?
You sit at ease in your gay palaces,
The costly banquet courts your appetite,
Sweet music sooths your slumbers; we the while,
Scarce by hard toil can earn a little food,
And sleep scarce shelter’d from the cold night wind:
While your wild projects wrest the little from us
Which might have cheered the wintry hour of age:
The parliament for ever asks more money:
We toil and sweat for money for your taxes;
Where is the benefit, what food reap we
From all the councils of your government?
Think you that we should quarrel with the French?
What boots to us your victories, your glory?
We pay, we fight, you profit at your ease.
Do you not claim the country as your own?
Do you not call the venison of the forest,
The birds of heaven your own?—prohibiting us,
Even tho’ in want of food, to seize the prey
Which nature offers?—King! is all this just?
Think you we do not feel the wrongs we suffer?
The hour of retribution is at hand,
And tyrants tremble—mark me, King of England.
 Morceau VII.

Hob. ’Twas well order’d,

I place but little trust in courtly faith.

John Ball. We must remain embodied; else the king

Will plunge again in royal luxury;
And when the storm of danger is past over,
Forget his promises.

Hob. Aye, like an aguish sinner,

He’ll promise to repent when the fit’s on him;
When well recover’d, laugh at his own terrors.

Piers. Oh! I am griev’d that we must gain so little!

Why are not all these empty ranks abolish’d,
King, slave, and lord, ‘ennobl’d into MAN?’
Are we not equal all?—have you not told me,
Equality is the sacred right of man,
Inalienable, tho’ by force withheld?

John Ball. Even so; but Piers, my frail and fallible judgment
Knows hardly to decide if it be right,
Peaceably to return, content with little,
With this half restitution of our rights,
Or boldly to proceed thro’ blood and slaughter,
Till we should all be equal and all happy.
I chose the milder way:—perhaps I erred.

Piers. I fear me—by the mass, the unsteady people

Are flocking homewards! how the multitude
Diminishes!

Morceau the Last.

John Ball. Why, be it so. I can smile at your vengeance:

For I am arm’d with rectitude of soul.
The truth, which all my life I have divulg’d,
And am now doom’d in torment to expire for,
Shall still survive—the destin’d hour must come,
When it shall blaze with sun-surpassing splendor,
And the dark mists of prejudice and falsehood
Fade in its strong effulgence. Flattery’s incense
No more shall shadow round the gore-dyed throne;
Th t lt f i f d ith it
That altar of oppression, fed with rites
More savage than the priests of Moloch taught,
Shall be consumed amid the fire of Justice:
The ray of truth shall emanate around,
And the whole world be lighted!

This will do.

 THE COURIER AND ‘THE WAT TYLER.’
Doth not the appetite alter? A man loves the meat in his youth, that he cannot
endure in his age. Shall quips and sentences, and these paper bullets of the brain
awe a man from the career of his humour?—Much Ado about Nothing.

March 30, 1817.

Instead of applying for an injunction against Wat Tyler, Mr.
Southey would do well to apply for an injunction against Mr.
Coleridge, who has undertaken his defence in The Courier. If he can
escape from the ominous patronage of that gentleman’s pen, he has
nothing to fear from his own. ‘The Wat Tyler,’ as Mr. Coleridge has
personified it, can do the author no great harm: it only proves that he
was once a wild enthusiast: of the two characters, for which Mr.
Southey is a candidate with the public, this is the most creditable for
him to appear in. At present his reputation ‘somewhat smacks.’ A
strong dose of the Jacobin spirit of Wat Tyler may be of use to get
the sickly taste of the Poet-laureate and the Quarterly Reviewer out
of our mouths.
The best thing for Mr. Southey (if we might be allowed to advise)
would be for his friends to say nothing about him, and for him to say
nothing about other people. We have nothing to do with Mr. Southey
‘the man,’ or even with Mr. Southey the apostate; but we have
something to do with Mr. Southey the spy and informer. Is it not a
little strange, that while this gentleman is getting an injunction
against himself as the author of Wat Tyler, he is recommending
gagging bills against us, and the making up by force for his deficiency
in argument! There is a want of keeping in this; but Mr. Southey and
his friends delight in practical and speculative contradictions. What
are we to think of a man who is ‘now a flagitious incendiary,’ (to use
the epithets which Mr. Southey applies to the Editor of the
Examiner) ‘a palliater of murder, insurrection, and treason,’ and
anon a pensioned scribbler of court poetry and court politics? If the
writer of the article on Parliamentary Reform thinks the Editor of
this Paper ‘a flagitious incendiary,’ ‘a palliater of murder,
insurrection, and treason,’ what does the Quarterly Reviewer think of
the author of Wat Tyler? What, on the other hand, does the author of
Wat Tyler think of the Quarterly Reviewer? What does Mr. Southey,
who certainly makes a very aukward figure between the two, think of
himself? Mr. Coleridge indeed steps in to the assistance of his friend
in this dilemma, and says (unsaying all that he says besides) that the
ultra-jacobinical opinions advanced in Wat Tyler were ‘more an
honour to the writer’s heart than an imputation on his
understanding?’ Be it so. The Editor of this Paper will, we dare say,
agree to this statement from disinterested motives, (for he is not
answerable for any ultra-jacobinical opinions) as we suppose Mr.
Southey will accede to it from pure self-love. He hardly thinks that he
was ‘a knave and fool’ formerly, as he calls all those who formerly
agreed or now differ with him: he only thinks with Mr. Coleridge and
The Courier, that he was not quite so ‘wise and virtuous’ then, as he
is at present! Why then not extend the same charitable interpretation
to those who have held a middle course between his opposite
extravagances? We are sure, that to be thought a little less wise and
virtuous than that celebrated person thinks himself, would content
the ambition of any moderate man. Will he allow of nothing short of
the utmost intolerance of jacobinism or anti-jacobinism? Or will he
tolerate this intolerance in nobody but himself? This seems to be his
feeling: and it also seems to be Mr. Coleridge’s opinion, whose
maudlin methodistical casuistry leads him to clothe Mr. Southey’s
political sins with apostacy as with a garment, and to plead one
excess of folly and indecency as a competent set-off against another.
To be a renegado, is, with him, to be virtuous. The greater the sinner
the greater the saint, says The Courier. Mr. Southey’s Muse is
confessedly not a vestal; but then she is what is much better, a
Magdalen. Now a Magdalen is a person who has returned to her first
habits and notions of virtue: but Mr. Southey’s laurelled Muse is at
present in high court-keeping, and tosses up her nose at the very
mention of reform. Nor do we think Mr. Southey has a fairer claim to
the degree of respectability good-naturedly assigned him by his
friends, that of a pickpocket or highwayman turned thief-taker or
king’s evidence; for he in fact belies his own character to blacken
every honest principle, and takes the government reward for
betraying better men than himself. There are, as The Courier
observes, youthful indiscretions; but there are also riper and more
deliberate errors. A woman is more liable to prostitute her person at
nineteen—a man is more likely to prostitute his understanding at
forty. We do not see the exact parallel which The Courier sets up
between moral repentance and political profligacy. A man, says The
Courier, may surely express an abhorrence of his past vices, as of
drunkenness. Yes; and he may also express a great abhorrence of his
present vices, because his own opinion, as well as that of all impartial
persons, condemns his conduct; but it would be curious if a man
were to express a great abhorrence of his present opinions, and it is
only a less degree of absurdity for a man to express a great
abhorrence of his past opinions; for if he was not a hypocrite, he
must have held those opinions, as he holds his present ones, because
he thought them right. A man is at liberty to condemn his errors in
practice as much as he pleases: it is a point agreed upon. But he is
not at liberty to condemn his errors in theory at the same unmerciful
rate, because many people still think them right; because it is the
height of arrogance in him to assume his own forfeited opinion as the
invariable standard of right and wrong, and the height of indecency
to ascribe the conclusions of others to bad motives, by which he can
only arraign his own. Certainly, all the presumption of indirect and
dishonest motives lies against Mr. Southey’s unlooked-for
conversion, and not against his original principles. Will he deny this
himself? He must then retract what he says in the Quarterly Review;
for he there says, that ‘the late war was so popular for three and
twenty years together, that for any one to be against it,’ (and much
more, to be a Jacobin, as he was, half that time,) ‘exposed him to
contempt, insult, persecution, the loss of property, and even of life.’
The odds, we grant, were against Mr. Southey’s pure reason; they
proved too much for it. According, however, to the new theory of
political integrity, to be a steady, consistent, conscientious Whig or
Tory, is nothing. It is the change of opinion that stamps its value on
it; and the more outrageous the change, the more meritorious the
stigma attached to it. It is the sacrifice of all principle, that is the
triumph of corruption; it is the shameless effrontery of a desertion of
the people, that is the chief recommendation to the panders of a
court; it is the contempt, the grinning scorn and infamy, which is
poured on all patriotism and independence, by shewing the radical
baseness and fickleness of its professors in the most startling point of
view, that strengthens the rotten foundations of power, by degrading
human nature. Poor Bob Southey! how they laugh at him! What are
the abuse and contumely which we are in the habit of bestowing
upon him, compared with the cordial contempt, the flickering sneers,
that play round the lips of his new-fangled friends, when they see
‘the Man of Humanity’ decked out in the trappings of his
prostitution, and feel the rankling venom of their hearts soothed by
the flattering reflection that virtue and genius are mere marketable
commodities! What a squeeze must that be which Mr. Canning gives
the hand that wrote the Sonnet to Old Sarum, and the Defence of
Rotten Boroughs in the Quarterly Review! Mr. Canning was at first
suspected of being the author of this last article: no one has
attributed Wat Tyler to the classical pen of that glib orator and
consistent anti-jacobin. Yet what are the pretensions of that
gentleman’s profligate consistency opposed to Mr. Southey’s
profligate versatility; what a pitiful spectacle does his sneaking,
servile adherence to a party make, compared with Mr. Southey’s
barefaced and magnanimous desertion of one! Mr. Canning has
indeed served a cause; Mr. Southey has betrayed one. Mr. Canning
threw contempt on the cause of liberty by his wit; Mr. Southey has
done it by his want of principle. ‘This, this is the unkindest blow of
all.’ We should not mind any thing but that;—that is the reflection
that stabs us:
 —— —— —— ——‘That the law
By which mankind now suffers, is most just.
For by superior energies; more strict
Affiance with each other; faith more firm
In their unhallow’d principles; the bad
Have fairly earned a victory o’er the weak,
The vacillating, inconsistent good.’

Mr. Coleridge thinks that this triumph over himself and the Poet-
laureate is a triumph to us. God forbid! It shews that he knows as
little about us as he does about himself. This question of apostacy
may be summed up in a very few words:—First, if Mr. Southey is not
an apostate, we should like to know who ever was? Secondly,
whether the term, apostate, is a term of reproach? If it has ceased to
be so, it is another among the triumphs of the present king’s reign,
and a greater proof than any brought forward in the Quarterly
Review, of the progress of public spirit and political independence
among us of late years! A man may change his opinion. Good. But if
he changes his opinion as his interest or vanity would prompt, if he
deserts the weak to go to the stronger side, the change is a suspicious
one! and we shall have a right to impute it rather to a defect of moral
principle than to an accession of intellectual strength. Again, no man,
be he who he may, has a right to change his opinion, and to be
violent on opposite sides of a question. For the only excuse for
dogmatical intolerance is, that the person who holds an opinion is
totally blinded by habit to all objections against it, so that he can see
nothing wrong on his own side, and nothing right on the other;
which cannot be the case with any person who has been sincere in
the opposite opinion. No one, therefore, has a right to call another
‘the greatest of scoundrels’ for holding the opinions which he himself
once held, without first formally acknowledging that he himself was
the greatest of hypocrites when he maintained those opinions. When
Mr. Southey subscribes to these conditions, we will give him a license
to rail on whom and as long as he pleases: but not—till then!
Apostates are violent in their opinions, because they suspect their
truth, even when they are most sincere: they are forward to vilify the
motives of those who differ from them, because their own are more
than suspected by the world! We proceed to notice the flabby defence
of ‘the Wat Tyler,’ from the well-known pen of Mr. Coleridge, which,
as far as we can understand it, proceeds upon the following
assumptions:—
1. That Mr. Southey was only 19 when he wrote it, and had
forgotten, from that time to this, all the principles and sentiments
contained in it.
Answer. A person who forgets all the sentiments and principles to
which he was most attached at nineteen, can have no sentiments ever
after worth being attached to. Further, it is not true that Mr. Southey
gave up the general principles of Wat Tyler, which he wrote at
nineteen, till almost as many years after. He did not give them up till
many years after he had received his Irish pension in 1800. He did
not give them up till with this leaning to something beyond ‘the
slides of his magic lanthorn,’ and ‘the pleasing fervour of his
imagination,’ he was canted out of them by the misty metaphysics of
Mr. Coleridge, Mr. Southey being no conjurer in such matters, and
Mr. Coleridge being a great quack. The dates of his works will shew
this: as it was indeed excellently well shewn in The Morning
Chronicle the other day. His Joan of Arc, his Sonnets and
Inscriptions, his Letters from Spain and Portugal, his Annual
Anthology, in which was published Mr. Coleridge’s ‘Fire, Famine,
and Slaughter,’ are a series of invectives against Kings, Priests, and
Nobles, in favour of the French Revolution, and against war and
taxes up to the year 1803. Why does he not get an injunction against
all these? To set aside all Mr. Southey’s jacobin publications, it would
be necessary to erect a new court of Chancery. Mr. Coleridge’s
insinuation, that he had changed all his opinions the year after, when
Mr. S. and Mr. C., in conjunction, wrote the Fall of Robespierre, is,
therefore, not true. But Mr. Coleridge never troubles himself about
facts or dates; he is only ‘watching the slides of his magic lanthorn,’
and indulging in ‘the pleasing fervour of poetical inspiration.’
2. That Mr. Southey was a mere boy when he wrote Wat Tyler,
and entertained Jacobin opinions: that being a child, he felt as a
child, and thought slavery, superstition, war, famine, bloodshed,
taxes, bribery and corruption, rotten boroughs, places, and
pensions, shocking things; but that now he is become a man, he has
put away childish things, and thinks there is nothing so delightful as
slavery, superstition, war, famine, bloodshed, taxes, bribery and
corruption, rotten boroughs, places and pensions, and particularly,
his own.
Answer. Yet Mr. Coleridge tells us that when he wrote Wat Tyler,
he was a man of genius and learning. That Mr. Southey was a wise
man when he wrote this poem, we do not pretend: that he has ever
been so, is more than we know. This we do know, and it is worth
attending to; that all that Mr. Southey has done best in poetry, he did
before he changed his political creed; that all that Mr. Coleridge ever
did in poetry, as the Ancient Mariner, Christabel, the Three Graves,
his Poems and his Tragedy, he had written, when, according to his
own account, he must have been a very ignorant, idle, thoughtless
person; that much the greater part of what Mr. Wordsworth has done
best in poetry was done about the same period; and if what these
persons have done in poetry, in indulging the ‘pleasing fervour of a
lively imagination,’ gives no weight to their political opinions at the
time they did it, what they have done since in science or philosophy
to establish their authority, is more than we know. All the authority
that they have as poets and men of genius must be thrown into the
scale of Revolution and Reform. Their Jacobin principles indeed
gave rise to their Jacobin poetry. Since they gave up the first, their
poetical powers have flagged, and been comparatively or wholly ‘in a
state of suspended animation.’ Their genius, their style, their
versification, every thing down to their spelling, was revolutionary.
Their poetical innovations unhappily did not answer any more than
the French Revolution. As their ambition was baulked in this first
favourite direction, it was necessary for these restless persons to do
something to get into notice; as they could not change their style,
they changed their principles; and instead of writing popular poetry,
fell to scribbling venal prose.—Mr. Southey’s opinion, like Mr.
Wordsworth’s or Mr. Coleridge’s, is of no value, except as it is his
own, the unbiassed, undepraved dictate of his own understanding
and feelings; not as it is a wretched, canting, reluctant echo of the
opinion of the world. Poet-laureates are courtiers by profession; but
we say that poets are naturally Jacobins. All the poets of the present
day have been so, with a single exception, which it would be
invidious to mention. If they have not all continued so, this only
shews the instability of their own characters, and that their natural
generosity and romantic enthusiasm, ‘their lofty, imaginative, and
innocent spirits,’ have not been proof against the incessant,
unwearied importunities of vulgar ambition. The poets, we say then,
are with us, while they are worth keeping. We take the sound part of
their heads and hearts, and make Mr. Croker and the Courier a
present of the rest. What the philosophers are, let the dreaded name
of modern philosophy answer!
3. Mr. Coleridge compares us to the long-eared virtuoso, the ass,
that found Apollo’s lute, ‘left behind by him when he ascended to his
own natural place, to sit thenceforward with all the Muses around
him, instead of the ragged cattle of Admetus.’
Answer. Now it seems that Mr. Coleridge and other common
friends of his, such as the author of the Fall of Robespierre and of
Democratic Lectures, or Lectures on Democracy, in the year 1794,
knew a good deal of Mr. Southey before he dropped this lute. Were
they the ragged cattle of Admetus that Mr. Southey was fain to
associate with during his obscure metamorphosis and strange
Jacobin disguise? Did the Coleridges, the Wordsworths, the Lloyds
and Lambs and Co. precede the Hunts, the Hazlitts, and the
Cobbetts, in listening to Mr. Southey ‘tuning his mystic harp to
praise Lepaux,’ the Parisian Theophilanthropist? And is it only since
Mr. Southey has sat ‘quiring to the young-eyed cherubim,’ with the
Barrymores, the Crokers, the Giffords, and the Stroehlings, that his
natural genius and moral purity of sentiment have found their
proper level and reward? Be this as it may, we plead guilty to the
charge of some little indiscreet admiration of the Apollo of
Jacobinism. We did not however find his lute three and twenty years
after he had dropped it ‘in a thistle.’ We saw it in his hands. We
heard him with our own ears play upon it, loud and long; and we can
swear he was as well satisfied with his own music as we could be.
‘Asinos asinina decent,’—a bad compliment, in the style of
Dogberry, which Mr. C. pays to his friend and to himself, as one of
his early ragged auditors. Now whether Mr. Southey has since that
period ascended to heaven or descended to the earth, we shall leave
it to Mr. Coleridge himself to decide. For he says, that at the time
when the present poet-laureate wrote Wat Tyler, he (Mr. Southey)
was ‘a young man full of glorious visions concerning the possibilities
of human nature, because his lofty, imaginative, and innocent spirit,
had mistaken its own virtues and powers for the average character of
mankind.’—Since Mr. Southey went to court, he has changed his
tone. Asinos asinina decent. Is that Mr. Coleridge’s political logic?[35]
4. That Mr. Southey did not express his real opinions, even at that
time, in Wat Tyler, which is a dramatic poem, in which mob-
orators and rioters figure, with appropriate sentiments, as Jack
Cade may do in Shakespear.
Answer. This allusion to the dramatic characters of Shakespear is
certainly unfortunate, and Mr. Coleridge himself hints as much.
Rioters and mob-preachers are not the only persons who appear in
‘the Wat Tyler.’ The King and the Archbishop come forward in their
own persons, according to Mr. Coleridge, with appropriate
sentiments, labelled and put into their mouths. For example:—
Philpot. Every moment brings
Fresh tidings of our peril.

King. It were well

To yield them what they ask.

Archbishop. Aye, that my liege

Were politic. Go boldly forth to meet them,
Grant all they ask—however wild and ruinous;—
Meantime, the troops you have already summoned
Will gather round them. Then my Christian power
Absolves you of your promise.

Walworth. Were but their ringleaders cut off, the rabble

Would soon disperse.

The very burden of The Courier all last week, and for many weeks
last past and to come.
5. Mr. Coleridge sums up his opinion of the ultimate design and
secret origin of ‘the Wat Tyler’ in these remarkable words:—‘We
should have seen that the vivid, yet indistinct images in which he had
painted the evils of war and the hardships of the poor, proved that
neither the forms nor the feelings were the result of real observation.
The product of the poet’s own fancy, they’—[viz. the evils of war and
the hardships of the poor]—‘were impregnated, therefore, with that
pleasurable fervour which is experienced in all energetic exertion of
intellectual power. But as to any serious wish, akin to reality,’ [that
is, to remove these evils] ‘as to any real persons or events designed or
expected, we should think it just as wise and just as charitable, to
believe that Quevedo or Dante would have been glad to realise the
horrid phantoms and torments of imaginary oppressors, whom they
beheld in the infernal regions—i.e. on the slides of their own magic
lanthorn.’
Answer. The slides of the guillotine, excited (as we have been told)
the same pleasurable fervour in Mr. Southey’s mind: and Mr.
Coleridge seems to insinuate, that the 5,800,000 lives which have
been lost to prove mankind the property of kings, by divine right,
have been lost ‘on the slides of a magic lanthorn’; the evils of war,
like all other actual evils, being ‘the products of a fervid imagination.’
So much for the sincerity of poetry.
Audrey. Is not poetry a true thing?

Touchstone. No.

Would these gentlemen persuade us that there is nothing evil in the

universe but what exists in their imagination, but what is the product
of their fervid fancy? That the world is full of nothing but their
egotism, their vanity, and their hypocrisy? The world is sick of them,
their egotism, their vanity, and their hypocrisy.
6th and lastly. ‘Mr. Southey’s darling poet from his childhood was
Edmund Spenser, from whom, next to the spotless purity of his own
moral habits, he learned that reverence for
—— ——“constant chastity,
Unspotted faith, and comely womanhood,
Regard of honour and mild modesty.”

‘And we are strongly persuaded that the indignation which, in his

early perusal of our history, the outrage on Wat Tyler’s Daughter had
kindled within him, was the circumstance that recommended the
story to his choice for the first powerful exercise of his dramatic
powers. It is this, too, we doubt not, that coloured and shaped his
feelings during the whole composition of the drama.
“Through the allegiance and just fealty
Which he did owe unto all womankind.”’
Mr. Coleridge might as well tell us that the Laureate wrote Wat Tyler
as an Epithalamium on his own marriage. There is but one line on
the subject from the beginning to the end. No; it is not Mr. Southey’s
way to say nothing on the subject on which he writes. If this were the
main drift and secret spring of the poem, why does Mr. Southey wish
to retract it now? Has he been taught by his present fashionable
associates to laugh at Edmund Spenser, the darling of the boy
Southey, to abjure ‘his allegiance and just fealty to all womankind,’
and to look upon ‘rapes and ravishments’ as ‘exaggerated evils,’ the
product of an idle imagination, exciting a pleasurable fervour at the
time, and signifying nothing afterwards? Is the outrage upon Wat
Tyler’s Daughter the only evil in history, or in the poem itself, which
ought to inflame the virtuous indignation of the full-grown stripling
bard? Are all the other oppressions recorded in the annals of the
world nothing but ‘horrible shadows, unreal mockeries,’ that this
alone should live ‘within the book and volume of his brain unmixed
with baser matter’? Or has Mr. Southey, the historian and the
politician, at last discovered, that even this evil, the greatest and the
only evil in the world, and not a mere illusion of his boyish
imagination, is itself a bagatelle, compared with the blessings of the
poll-tax, feudal vassalage, popery, and slavery, the attempt to put
down which by murder, insurrection, and treason, in the reign of
Richard II. the poet-laureate once celebrated con amore in ‘the Wat
Tyler‘?—In courtly malice and servility Mr. Southey has outdone
Herodias’s daughter. He marches into Chancery ‘with his own head
in a charger,’ as an offering to Royal delicacy. He plucks out the heart
of Liberty within him, and mangles his own breast to stifle every
natural sentiment left there: and yet Mr. Coleridge would persuade
us that this stuffed figure, this wretched phantom, is the living man.
The finery of birth-day suits has dazzled his senses, so that he has ‘no
speculation in those eyes that he does glare with’; yet Mr. Coleridge
would persuade us that this is the clear-sighted politician. Famine
stares him in the face, and he looks upon her with lack-lustre eye.
Despotism hovers over him, and he says, ‘Come, let me clutch thee.’
He drinks the cup of human misery, and thinks it is a cup of sack. He
has no feeling left, but of ‘tickling commodity’; no ears but for court
whispers; no understanding but of his interest; no passion but his
vanity. And yet they would persuade us that this non-entity is
somebody—‘the chief dread of Jacobins and Jacobinism, or quacks
and quackery.’ If so, Jacobins and Jacobinism have not much to fear;
and Mr. Coleridge may publish as many Lay Sermons as he pleases.
There is but one statement in the article in The Courier to which
we can heartily assent; it is Mr. Southey’s prediction of the fate of the
French Revolution. ‘The Temple of Despotism,’ he said, ‘would be
rebuilt, like that of the Mexican God, with human skulls, and
cemented with human blood.’ He has lived to see this; to assist in the
accomplishment of his prophecy, and to consecrate the spectre-
building with pensioned hands!
A Letter to William Smith, Esq., M.P. from
Robert Southey, Esq. John Murray,
Albemarle-street. 1817. Price 2s.

May 4, 1817.

This is very unlike Mr. Burke’s celebrated ‘Letter to the Duke of

Bedford.’ The last is the only work of the Irish orator and patriot, in
which he was in earnest, and all that he wanted was sincerity. The
attack made upon his pension, by rousing his self-love, kindled his
imagination, and made him blaze out in a torrent of fiery eloquence,
in the course of which his tilting prose-Pegasus darted upon the titles
of the noble duke like a thunderbolt, reversed his ancestral honours,
overturned the monstrous straddle-legged figure of that legitimate
monarch, Henry VIII., exploded the mines of the French revolution,
kicked down the Abbé Sieyes’s pigeon-holes full of constitutions, and
only reposed from his whirling career, in that fine retrospect on
himself, and the affecting episode to Admiral Keppel. Mr. Burke was
an apostate, ‘a malignant renegado,’ like Mr. Southey; but there the
comparison ends. He would not have been content, on such an
occasion as the present, with Mistering his opponent, and Esquiring
himself, like the ladies in the Beggar’s Opera, who express the height
of their rankling envy and dislike, by calling each other—Madam.
Mr. Southey’s self-love, when challenged to the lists, does not launch
out into the wide field of wit or argument: it retires into its own
littleness, collects all its slender resources in one poor effort of pert,
pettifogging spite, makes up by studied malice for conscious
impotence, and attempts to mortify others by the angry sense of his
own insignificance. He grows tenacious of his ridiculous pretensions,
in proportion as they are given up by every body else. His self-
complacency riots, with a peculiar and pointed gusto, in the
universal contempt or compassion of friends and foes. In the last
stage of a galloping consumption, while the last expiring puff of The
Courier makes ‘a swan-like end,’ in a compliment to his opponents,
he is sanguine of a deathless reputation—considers his soreness to
the least touch as a proof of his being in a whole skin, and his
uneasiness to repel every attack as a proof of his being invulnerable.
In a word, he mistakes an excess of spleen and irritability for the
consciousness of innocence, and sets up his own egotism, vanity, ill-
humour, and intolerance, as an answer in full to all the objections
which have been brought against him of vanity, egotism, malignity,
and intolerance. His ‘Letter’ is a concentrated essence of a want of
self-knowledge. It is the picture of the author’s mind in little. In this
respect, it is ‘a psychological curiosity’; a study of human infirmity.
As some persons bequeath their bodies to the surgeons to be
dissected after their death, Mr. Southey publicly exposes his mind to
be anatomized while he is living. He lays open his character to the
scalping-knife, guides the philosophic hand in its painful researches,
and on the bald crown of our petit tondu, in vain concealed under
withered bay-leaves and a few contemptible grey hairs, you see the
organ of vanity triumphant—sleek, smooth, round, perfect, polished,
horned, and shining, as it were in a transparency. This is the handle
of his intellect, the index of his mind; ‘the guide, the anchor of his
purest thoughts, and soul of all his moral being’; the clue to the
labyrinth of all his tergiversations and contradictions; the medius
terminus of his political logic.
—— ——‘The ruling passion once express’d,
Wharton is plain, and Chartres stands confess’d.’

Once admit that Mr. Southey is always in the right, and every one
else in the wrong, and all the rest follows. This at once reconciles
‘Wat Tyler’ and the ‘Quarterly Review,’ which Mr. William Smith
took down to the House, in two different pockets for fear of a breach
of the peace; identifies the poet of the ‘Joan of Arc’ and of the
‘Annual Anthology’ with the poet-laureate; and jumps the stripling
into the man, whenever the latter has a mind to jump into a place or
pension. Till you can deprive him of his personal identity, he will
always be the same infallible person—in his own opinion. He is both
judge and jury in his own cause; the sole standard of right and
wrong. To differ with him is inexcusable; for ‘there is but one perfect,
even himself.’ He is the central point of all moral and intellectual
excellence; the way, the truth, and the life. There is no salvation out
of his pale; and yet he makes the terms of communion so strict, that
there is no hope that way. The crime of Mr. William Smith and
others, against whom this high-priest of impertinence levels his
anathemas, is in not being Mr. Southey. What is right in him, is
wrong in them; what is the height of folly or wickedness in them, is,
‘as fortune and the flesh shall serve,’ the height of wisdom and virtue
in him; for there is no medium in his reprobation of others and
approbation of himself. Whatever he does, is proper: whatever he
thinks, is true and profound: ‘I, Robert Shallow, Esquire, have said
it.’ Whether Jacobin or Anti-jacobin, Theophilanthropist or
Trinitarian, Spencean, or Ex-Spencean, the patron of Universal
Suffrage or of close Boroughs, of the reversion of sinecure places, and
pensions, or of the abolition of all property,—however extreme in one
opinion or another, he alone is in the right; and those who do not
think as he does, and change their opinions as he does, and go the
lengths that he does, first on one side and then on the other, are
necessarily knaves and fools. Wherever he sits, is the head of the
table. Truth and justice are always at his side. The wise and virtuous
are always with him. How should it be otherwise? He calls those
‘wise and virtuous’ who are of his way of thinking; the rest are
‘sciolists, profligates, and coxcombs.’ By a fiction of his own making,
not by a fiction of the law, Mr. Southey can do no wrong; and to
accuse him of it, is a libel on the face of it, and little short of high
treason. It is not the poet-laureate, the author of ‘Wat Tyler’ and of
the ‘Quarterly Review,’ who is to blame for his violence and apostacy;
with that portion of self-sufficiency which this author possesses,
‘these are most virtuous’; but it is the person who brings forward the
contradictions and intemperance of these two performances who is
never to be forgiven for questioning Mr. Southey’s consistency and
moderation. All this is strange, but not new to our readers. We have
said it all before. Why does Mr. Southey oblige us to repeat the
accusation, by furnishing us with fresh proofs of it? He is betrayed to
his ruin by trusting to the dictates of his personal feelings and
wounded pride; and yet he dare not look at his situation through any
other medium. ‘To know my deed, ‘t were best not know myself.’ But
does he expect all eyes as well as his to be ‘blind with the pin and
web’? Does he pull his laurel-crown as a splendid film over his eyes,
and expect us to join in a game of political blindman’s-buff with him,
with a ‘Hoop, do me no harm, good man’? Are we not to cry out while
an impudent, hypocritical, malignant renegado is putting his gag in
our mouths, and getting his thumb-screws ready? ‘Dost thou think,
because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale,’ says
Sir Toby to the fantastical steward Malvolio? Does Mr. Southey
think, because he is a pensioner, that he is to make us willing slaves?
While he goes on writing in the ‘Quarterly,’ shall we give over writing
in The Examiner? Before he puts down the liberty of the press, the
press shall put him down, with all his hireling and changeling crew.
In the servile war which Mr. Southey tells us is approaching, the
service we have proposed to ourselves to do is, to neutralize the
servile intellect of the country. This we have already done in part,
and hope to make clear work of it, before we have done.—For
example:
This heroic epistle to William Smith, Esq. from Robert Southey,
sets off in the following manner:—
‘Sir,—You are represented in the newspapers as having entered,
during an important discussion in parliament, into a comparison
between certain passages in the ‘Quarterly Review,’ and the opinions
which were held by the author of ‘Wat Tyler’ three-and-twenty years
ago. It appears farther, according to the same authority, that the
introduction of so strange a criticism, in so strange a place, did not
arise from the debate, but was a premeditated thing; that you had
prepared yourself for it, by stowing the ‘Quarterly Review’ in one
pocket, and ‘Wat Tyler’ in the other; and that you deliberately stood
up for the purpose of reviling an individual who was not present to
vindicate himself, and in a place which afforded you protection.’ p. 2.
So that for Mr. William Smith in a debate on a bill for the
suppression of all political opinions (as we are told by Mr. Alderman
Smith, a very different person, to be sure, and according to Mr.
Southey, no doubt, a highly respectable character, and a true lover of
liberty and the constitution) for Mr. William Smith on such an
occasion to introduce the sentiments of a well-known writer in a
public journal, that writer being a whiffling tool of the court, and that
journal the avowed organ of the government-party, in confirmation
of his apprehensions of the objects and probable results of the bill
then pending, was quite irrelevant and unparliamentary; nor had Mr.
William Smith any right to set an additional stigma on the
unprincipled and barefaced lengths which this writer now goes in
servility and intolerance, by shewing the equal lengths to which he
went formerly in popular fanaticism and licentiousness. Yet neither
Mr. Southey nor his friend Mr. Wynne complained of Mr. Canning’s
want of regularity, or disrespect of the House, in lugging out of his
pocket The Spencean Plan as an argument against Reform, and as
decisive of the views of the Friends of Reform in parliament. Nay,
Mr. Southey requoted Mr. Canning’s quotation, for the purpose of
reviling all Reform and all Reformers, in the ‘Quarterly Review’;—a
place in which any one so reviled can no more defend himself than
Mr. Southey can defend himself in parliament; and which it seems
affords equal ‘protection’ to those who avail themselves of it; for a
Quarterly Reviewer, according to Mr. Southey, being anonymous, is
not at all accountable for what he writes. He says,—
‘As to the “Quarterly Review,” you can have no other authority for
ascribing any particular paper in that journal to one person or to
another, than common report. The “Quarterly Review” stands upon
its own merits.’ [Yet it was for what Mr. Southey wrote in that
Review, that The Courier told us at the time that Mr. Southey was
made Poet-laureate.] ‘What I may have said or thought in any part of
my life, no more concerns that journal than it does you or the House
of Commons.’ [What Mr. Southey has said publicly any where in any
part of his life, concerns the public and every man in it, unless Mr.
Southey means to say that his opinions are utterly worthless and
contemptible, a piece of modesty of which we cannot suspect him.]
‘What I have written in it is a question which you, Sir, have no right
to ask, and which certainly I will not answer. As little right have you
to take that for granted which you cannot possibly know.’ Now mark.
In the very paragraph before the one in which he skulks from the
responsibility of the ‘Quarterly Review,’ and with pert vapid
assurance repels every insinuation implying a breach of his
inviolability as an anonymous writer, he makes an impudent,
unqualified, and virulent attack on Mr. Brougham as an Edinburgh
Reviewer, ‘This was not necessary in regard to Mr. Brougham ... he
only carried the quarrels as well as the practices of the Edinburgh
Review into the House of Commons. But as calumny, Sir, has not
been your vocation, it may be useful, even to yourself, if I comment
upon your first attempt.’—p. 3. Such a want of common logic is to
our literal capacities quite inexplicable: it is ‘in the third tier of
wonders above wonders.’
In page 5, Mr. Southey calls the person who published ‘Wat Tyler’
‘a skulking scoundrel,’ with his characteristic delicacy and
moderation in the use of epithets; and says that it was published, ‘for
the avowed purpose of insulting him, and with the hope of injuring
him if possible.’ Perhaps one object was to prevent Mr. Southey from
insulting and injuring other people. It was supposed that ‘Wat Tyler’
might prove an antidote to the ‘Quarterly Review’: that, ‘the healing
might come from the same weapon that gave the wound’; and in this
instance it has turned out so. He adds, ‘You knew that the
transaction bore upon its face every character of baseness and
malignity. You knew that it must have been effected either by
robbery, or by breach of trust. These things, Mr. William Smith, you
knew!’ [Mr. Southey at least knows no such thing, but he is here in
his glory; putting a false statement into epigrammatic phraseology;
bristling with horror at antithetical enormities of his own fabricating,
and concluding with that formidable and significant repetition of the
title, Christian and surname of Mr. William Smith.] The above
paragraph concludes thus, with the author’s usual logical precision
and personal modesty. ‘And knowing them as you did, I verily
believe, that if it were possible to revoke what is irrevocable, you
would at this moment be far more desirous of blotting from
remembrance the disgraceful speech which stands upon record in
your name, than I should be of cancelling the boyish composition
which gave rise to it. “Wat Tyler” is full of errors ... but they are the
errors of youth and ignorance; they bear no indication of an
ungenerous spirit, or of a malevolent heart.’ p. 6. It seems by this
passage that any attempt to fix disgrace on Mr. Southey only, recoils
upon the head of his accuser. ‘Upon his brow shame is ashamed to
sit.’ He says that Mr. W. Smith’s disgraceful speech was occasioned
by ‘Wat Tyler.’ That is not true. It was occasioned by ‘Wat Tyler’
coupled with the ‘Quarterly Review.’ He says, ‘“Wat Tyler” is full of
errors.’ So is the article in the ‘Quarterly Review’; but they are not
‘the errors of youth and ignorance; they bear strong indications of an
ungenerous spirit and a malignant heart.’ Let not Mr. Southey
mistake. It is not the indiscreet and romantic extravagance of the boy
which has brought the man into this predicament: it is the deliberate
and rancorous servility of the man that has made those who were the
marks of his slanderous and cowardly invectives, rake up the errors
of his youth against him.
Mr. Southey next proceeds to a defence of himself for writing ‘the
Wat Tyler.’ He argues that ‘it is not seditious, because it is dramatic.’
We deny that it is dramatic. He acknowledges that it is mischievous,
and particularly so, at the present time. To the last part of the
proposition we cannot assent. When this poem was written, there
was a rage of speculation which might be dangerous: the danger at
present arises from the rage of hunger. And the true reason why Mr.
Southey was eager to suppress this publication was not what he
pretends, a fear that it might inculcate notions of perfect equality and
general licentiousness: but a feeling that it might prevent him from
defending every abuse of excessive inequality, and every stretch of
arbitrary power, the end of which must be to sink ‘the people’ in an
abyss of slavery, and to plunge ‘the populace’ in the depths of famine,
despair, and misery, or by a sudden and tremendous revulsion, to
occasion all that confusion, anarchy, violence, and bloodshed, which
Mr. Southey hypocritically affects to deprecate as the consequences
of seditious and inflammatory publications. Now we contend in
opposition to Mr. Southey and all that servile crew, that the only
possible preventive of one or other of these impending evils, namely,
lasting slavery, famine, and general misery on the one hand, or a
sudden and dreadful convulsion on the other, is the liberty of the
press, which Mr. Southey calls sedition, and the firm, manly, and
independent expression of public opinion, which he calls rebellion.
We detest despotism: we deprecate popular commotion: but if we are
forced upon an alternative, we have a choice: we prefer temporary to
lasting evils. Mr. Southey has indeed a new-acquired and therefore
lively dread of the horrors of revolution. But his passion for
despotism is greater than his dread of anarchy; and he runs all the
risks of the one, rather than not glut his insatiable and unnatural
appetite for the other. Such are his politics, and such are ours. He
says, ‘The piece was written under the influence of opinions which I
have long since outgrown, and repeatedly disclaimed, but for which I
have never felt either shame or contrition. They were taken up
conscientiously in early youth, they were acted upon in disregard of
all worldly considerations, and they were left behind in the same
strait-forward course, as I advanced in years.’ The latter part of this
statement is not self-evident. Mr. Southey says that while he adhered
to his first principles, he acted with a total disregard of his worldly
interest; and this is easily understood:—but that his desertion of
those principles, so contrary to his worldly views, was equally
independent, disinterested and free from sinister motives, is not so
plain. Nor can we take Mr. Southey’s word for it. And we will tell him
the reason. If he had been progressive, as he calls it, in his course, up
to the year 1814, we should not have found much fault with him: but
why did he become stationary then? Has nothing happened in the
three last years,—nothing—to make Mr. Southey retreat back to some
of his old opinions, as he had advanced from them, guided, as he
professes to be in his undeviating course, by facts and experience?
Are the actual events of the last three years nothing in the scale of
Mr. Southey’s judgment? Is not their weight overpowering,
irresistible? What, do not the names of Poland, Norway, Finland,
Saxony, Italy, Spain and Portugal, the Pope, the Inquisition, and the
Cortes (to say nothing of France, Nismes, and the Bourbons) thrown
into the scale of common sense and common honesty, dash it down,
with a startling sound, upon the counter, where Mr. Southey is
reckoning his well-gotten gains, the price of his disinterested
exertions in the cause of Spanish liberty and the deliverance of
mankind, making his hair stand on end at his own folly and
credulity, and forcing him indignantly to fling his last year’s pension
and the arrears of the Quarterly in the face of Mr. Murray’s shopmen
and the clerks of the Treasury, and swear, ‘in disregard of all worldly
considerations,’ never to set his foot in Downing or Albemarle-street
again? No such thing. In advocating the cause of the French people,
Mr. Southey’s principles and his interest were at variance, and
therefore he quitted his principles when he saw a good opportunity:
in taking up the cause of the Allies, his principles and his interest
became united and thenceforth indissoluble. His engagement to his
first love, the Republic, was only upon liking; his marriage to
Legitimacy is for better, for worse, and nothing but death shall part
them. Our simple Laureate was sharp upon his hoyden Jacobin
mistress, who brought him no dowry, neither place nor pension, who
‘found him poor and kept him so,’ by her prudish notions of virtue.
He divorced her, in short, for nothing but the spirit and success with
which she resisted the fraud and force to which the old bawd
Legitimacy was forever resorting to overpower her resolution and
fidelity. He said she was a virago, a cunning gipsey, always in broils