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Discuss the Cardinal Utility Theory. How do the cardinalists derive the demand curve? What are its drawbacks?

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Cardinal Utility Theory is a method which assumes that satisfaction can be measured using the unit of ‘util’.

The cardinal utility theory treats utility as something that can be measured in absolute terms. We can measure a person and say the person is 1.7 meters tall. So too, these theorists say, we can measure the utility a person gets from a good or service and say they get 1.7 utils, for example, from it.

This is in contrast to ordinal utility theory which simply says that a person gets more utility from good A than good B.

Cardinal utility is helpful for teaching about marginal utility and things like that. However, it seems to me that it is quite impossible to measure utility in a cardinal way. I can only talk about how much satisfaction I get from buying a book by comparing it to what I get from watching a movie. I cannot put a number on the book without reference to other things.

A simple example of cardinality. Y=2x+3
Graph of cardinality. Y=2x+3
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