ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Homothetic function (economics)

Okay kiddo, let's talk about homothetic functions in economics.

A homothetic function is kind of like a recipe that tells you how to make something, but for economics. It's a way to describe how people make choices about what to buy when they have limited money to spend.

Imagine you're at the store with your allowance money and you want to buy some candy and some toys. You have to decide how much to spend on each one, right? A homothetic function helps describe how you make that decision.

The function says that if you double your allowance money, you will also double the amount you spend on both candy and toys, but the proportion of your spending will stay the same. So if you normally spend $1 on candy and $2 on toys, if you suddenly had $2 more in allowance money, you would now spend $2 on candy and $4 on toys.

This means that your preferences for candy and toys don't change, but you just have more money to spend on them.

In economics, we use homothetic functions to describe the way people make choices about what to buy when they have limited budgets, and how they respond to changes in their income. It helps us understand how people make spending decisions and how they prioritize their wants and needs.

So, a homothetic function essentially helps us understand how people make choices based on how much money they have. It's like a recipe for making the perfect spending decision!
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