In: Economics
Explain the trade-offs of taking care of a love one and attending college. List the alternatives you had, identify the highest valued alternative and explain your final decision?
Alternatives:
No1) if the college is attended, few alternatives are gone – (a) watching movie, (b) playing basketball, and (c) taking sleep.
No.2) if there is watching movie, few alternatives are gone – (a) attending college, (b) playing basketball, and (c) taking sleep.
Highest value:
Suppose the following highest values are assigned to each alternative.
Watching movie = $5
Playing basketball = $3
Taking sleep = $2
Attending college = $7
Decision:
The college must be attended, since it has the highest value ($7) out of all alternatives. The next best alternative is watching movie ($5) – this is the opportunity cost of attending college.
Opportunity cost (OC) should be calculated as below:
Opportunity cost |
||
Attending college |
5/7 = 0.71 (lower) |
|
Watching movie |
7/5 = 1.4 |
The lower opportunity cost establishes comparative advantage; in this case attending college. The act should be done which has comparative advantage, as attending college.