When resources are scarce, the decision to produce a particular good or service involves an opportunity cost, the sacrifice of a good or service that might have been produced instead. Opportunity cost describes the fact that when we employ resources in a particular way, we are not making a decision to produce these goods or services but we are also deciding not to produce some other goods or services. The fact that we decide not to produce is the opportunity cost of what we do produce. For example, a farmer has one acre of land suitable for growing either corn or potatoes. If the farmer plants the corn, the opportunity cost of the corn is equal to one acre of potatoes, because resources are limited; the production of any
When resources are scarce, the decision to produce a particular good or service involves an opportunity cost, the sacrifice of a good or service that might have been produced instead. Opportunity cost describes the fact that when we employ resources in a particular way, we are not making a decision to produce these goods or services but we are also deciding not to produce some other goods or services. The fact that we decide not to produce is the opportunity cost of what we do produce. For example, a farmer has one acre of land suitable for growing either corn or potatoes. If the farmer plants the corn, the opportunity cost of the corn is equal to one acre of potatoes, because resources are limited; the production of any