This is a commentary on the article 'What is opportunity cost?' The concept of opportunity cost is well explained in this article with the help of lots of examples. What I have learned in this article:
1- The concept of opportunity cost
The definition of opportunity cost is the next best alternative forgone when an economic decision is made. There are infinite wants and finite resources which makes the resources scarce. People need to make decisions in everyday life, for example- I can spend my time after school by studying Economics or I can play football with my friends. If i chose to play football with my friends, the opportunity cost would be the knowledge I have gained after studying Economics which would help me to achieve better grade. The decision is made and there is a cost. In this case time is scarce.
2- Children represent an economic cost?
In this article, children are said to be a ''cost''. It shows the amount of money needed to raise a child including tuition fees, groceries, health care fees and many other things. It also explains the opportunity cost of having children. The cost of having children is a lot: parents would not have to work as hard, they would have lived with a better life style, more leisure time and they would have lived their own life, what this means is that children would not be the central part of their life. Economically, it is better to not have children but in economics, they do not consider the amount of happiness the parents get from their children and they get back the money they have spent on their children when the children become adults. They get the money back in the future so I do not think that children represent an economic cost. But of course, not every children repay their parents when they are older. If this kind of idea spreads around the world and people have positive opinion on this idea then no one would be willing to give a birth in the future.
http://www.thevervelife.com/the-opportunity-cost-of-children-or-why-pubs-arent-that-interesting-anymore/
1- The concept of opportunity cost
The definition of opportunity cost is the next best alternative forgone when an economic decision is made. There are infinite wants and finite resources which makes the resources scarce. People need to make decisions in everyday life, for example- I can spend my time after school by studying Economics or I can play football with my friends. If i chose to play football with my friends, the opportunity cost would be the knowledge I have gained after studying Economics which would help me to achieve better grade. The decision is made and there is a cost. In this case time is scarce.
2- Children represent an economic cost?
In this article, children are said to be a ''cost''. It shows the amount of money needed to raise a child including tuition fees, groceries, health care fees and many other things. It also explains the opportunity cost of having children. The cost of having children is a lot: parents would not have to work as hard, they would have lived with a better life style, more leisure time and they would have lived their own life, what this means is that children would not be the central part of their life. Economically, it is better to not have children but in economics, they do not consider the amount of happiness the parents get from their children and they get back the money they have spent on their children when the children become adults. They get the money back in the future so I do not think that children represent an economic cost. But of course, not every children repay their parents when they are older. If this kind of idea spreads around the world and people have positive opinion on this idea then no one would be willing to give a birth in the future.
http://www.thevervelife.com/the-opportunity-cost-of-children-or-why-pubs-arent-that-interesting-anymore/