Yes, you are correct on the first question.
For the second, there are four positions, the first of which has $9$ possible values, (can't be zero), then the second position has 9 possible values it can take on (subtracting 1 from 10 possible values since it can't be the same number as the first position. Etc...
$$9 \cdot 9\cdot 8 \cdot 7 = 4536$$
You made two errors:
- You did not account for the fact that there are only $9$ choices for the leading digit when neither number in the pair of consecutive equal even digits is in the thousands place.
- You have subtracted numbers in which there are three or more consecutive even digits more than once.
First, we observe that there are $9 \cdot 10 \cdot 10 \cdot 10 = 9000$ four-digit positive integers.
Let $A_1$ be the set of four-digit positive integers in which the thousands place and hundreds place contain equal even digits. Let $A_2$ be the set of four-digit positive integers in which the hundreds place and tens place contain equal even digits. Let $A_3$ be the set of four-digit positive integers in which the tens place and units place contain equal even digits. Then $A_1 \cup A_2 \cup A_3$ is the set of four-digit positive integers that do contain consecutive equal even digits. By the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle, the number of four-digit positive integers that do contain consecutive even digits is
$$|A_1 \cup A_2 \cup A_3| = |A_1| + |A_2| + |A_3| - |A_1 \cap A_2| - |A \cap A_3| - |A_2 \cap A_3| + |A_1 \cap A_2 \cap A_3|$$
$|A_1|$: Since we cannot use zero, there are four ways of choosing the even digit that occupies both the thousands and hundreds place. There are ten choices for each of the remaining digits. Hence, $|A_1| = 4 \cdot 10 \cdot 10 = 400$.
$|A_2|$: Since we cannot use zero, the thousands place can be filled in nine ways. There are five ways to choose the even digit that fills both the hundreds and tens places. There are ten ways to fill the units place. Hence, $|A_2| = 9 \cdot 5 \cdot 10 = 450$.
$|A_3|$: We can fill the thousands place in nine ways and the hundreds place in ten ways. There are five ways to choose the even digit that occupies both the tens and units places. Hence, $|A_3| = 9 \cdot 10 \cdot 5 = 450$.
$|A_1 \cap A_2|$: Since we cannot use zero, there are four ways to choose the
even digit that occupies the thousands, hundreds, and tens places. There are ten ways to fill the units place. Hence, $|A_1 \cap A_2| = 4 \cdot 10 = 40$.
$|A_1 \cap A_3|$: There are four ways to choose the even digit that occupies both the thousands and hundreds places and five ways to choose the even digit that occupies both the tens and units places. Hence, $|A_1 \cap A_3| = 4 \cdot 5 = 20$.
$|A_2 \cap A_3|$: There are nine ways to fill the thousands place. There are five ways to choose the even digit that occupies the hundreds, tens, and units places. Hence, $|A_2 \cap A_3| = 9 \cdot 5 = 45$.
$|A_1 \cap A_2 \cap A_3|$: Since we cannot use zero, there are four ways to choose the even digit that occupies the thousands, hundreds, tens, and units places. Hence, $|A_1 \cap A_2 \cap A_3| = 4$.
Therefore, the number of four-digit positive integers that do contain consecutive even equal digits is
\begin{align*}
|A_1 \cup A_2 \cup A_3| & = |A_1| + |A_2| + |A_3| - |A_1 \cap A_2| - |A \cap A_3| - |A_2 \cap A_3| + |A_1 \cap A_2 \cap A_3|\\
& = 400 + 450 + 450 - 40 - 20 - 45 + 4\\
& = 1199
\end{align*}
Therefore, the number of four-digit positive even integers that do not contain consecutive equal even digits is
$9000 - 1199 = 7801$.
Best Answer
Let's choose 4 distinct numbers from the set of digits $\{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9\}.$ (Note that $0$ cannot be included in this set.) For each choice, there is a unique way by which we can relabel those 4 numbers so that they are in ascending order. (For example, if we chose the numbers $1, 2, 3,\text{ and } 8,$ then the only way we can have them in ascending order would be $1238$ and nothing else.) So we'd have $\binom{9}{4}$ 4-digit numbers whose digits are strictly increasing. Using this logic, it wouldn't be too hard to extend it to any n-digit number as long as $n<10.$