Opportunity cost
In
economics, opportunity cost, or economic cost, is the
cost of something in terms of an opportunity forgone (and the benefits which could be received from that opportunity), or the most valuable forgone alternative (or highest-valued option forgone), i.e. the second best alternative. An early representation of the concept of opportunity cost is the
broken window fallacy illustrated by
Frédéric Bastiat in 1850.
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opportunity cost
Noun
1. cost in terms of foregone alternatives
(hypernym) cost
(hyponym) cost of capital, capital cost
opportunity cost
That which is surrendered (or which would be surrendered)-an advantage, a potential advantage, or the principal advantage-because of choosing an alternative. Opportunity costs are assessed as estimates of the cost of passing up the option considered the next best potential use of the same resources.
Opportunity Cost
the value of the benefit forfeited by choosing one alternative over another.
opportunity cost
Measure of the costs of holding an asset, typically measured as the spread between its own return and the return on an alternative asset.
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