Explain two important characteristics of indifference curves for two goods
Please provide the best answer for the statement.
First, indifference curves are down sloping because both goods will yield utility for the consumer. Because total utility is constant for each indifference curve, the consumption of more of one good would increase total utility and this must be offset by the decrease in the amount consumed of the other good. More utility is derived from the consumption of one good; less utility is obtained from the other good. This inverse relationship produces the downward (negative) slope of the indifference curves.
Second, indifference curves are convex to the origin. The willingness to substitute one good for the other diminishes as the consumer moves down the curve. Thus indifference curves have a diminishing slope that makes them convex to the origin in a two-quadrant graph.
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