Lesson 6 of 11 · 6 minutes
Opportunity cost
The real cost of an action is the next-best alternative the actor gives up.
Situation
A worker takes a higher-paying job with a longer commute and loses ten hours a week with family.
What is the cost?
Answering is the main action. The other two controls open the distinctions without marking the lesson complete.
Goal, means, alternative
Before your next purchase or commitment, name the best alternative use of the same money, time, or attention.
Opportunity cost turns vague tradeoffs into a clear comparison: what did this action displace?
Austrian value theory treats cost through the actor's alternatives, not merely through objective expense. Open the source for this claim →
Connected lab
See the same distinction move.
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No graded answer