CARDINAL UTILITY: A measure of utility, or satisfaction derived from the consumption of goods and services, that can be measured using an absolute scale. Cardinal utility exists if the utility derived from consumption is measurable in the same way that other physical characteristics--height and weight--are measured using a scale that is comparable between people. There is little or no evidence to suggest that such measurement is possible and is not even needed for modern consumer demand theory and indifference curve analysis. Cardinal utility, however, is often employed as a convenient teaching device for discussing such concepts as marginal utility and utility maximization.

     See also | utility | satisfaction | cardinal | second rule of subjectivity | indifference curve | consumer demand theory | ordinal | ordinal utility | quality of life | util | marginal utility | utility maximization |

CARDINAL UTILITY, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2020. [Accessed: May 28, 2020].

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Seven economic statistics that tend to move up or down a few months AFTER business-cycle expansions and contractions. Most importantly, these measures indicate peak and trough turning points about three to twelve months after they occur. Lagging economic indicators are one of three groups of economic measures used to track business-cycle activity. The other two are coincident economic indicators and leading economic indicators.

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