Jackson says that his fifth game of chess gave him greater utility than his first, and therefore the law of diminishing marginal utility does not hold. An economist who believes that marginal utility definitely and always declines with the consumption of equal successive units of a good will likely say:

Simon, aged 10, is invited to a classmate's birthday party at an exclusive ski resort on march 15th. the day will include 4 hours of snowboarding, lunch and birthday cake. simon's mother checks a box on the invitation that says "yes, we will attend" and returns it to the classmate's address. unfortunately, they later don't attend the party when simon comes down with the flu. on march 17th, simon's mother receives an invoice in the mail from simon's classmate for $35 that says, "party no-show fee." can simon's classmate collect the fee?