Which of the following is an example of thinking at the margin?

a. deciding to buy a car you don’t really like because it is significantly less expensive than the one you want

b. determining whether it is better to spend your savings on a new cd player or on a television

c. deciding whether the benefit of working two extra hours per day is worth the sacrifice of study time

d. putting all of your money in a savings account because the interest rates are so high

The best example of thinking at the margin is deciding whether the benefit of working two extra hours per day is worth the sacrifice of study time. Thinking at the margin means that thinking the next step forward by adding some additional action.  

EXPLANATION:  

From the perspective of the economist, thinking at the margin means that the time when we as individuals decide how much less or more to do. For example, when we deciding whether the benefit of working two extra hours per day is worth the sacrifice of study time. Of course, when we choose to work for more two extra hours, we will sacrifice the study time. We will lose two hours of study time for working.  

If we choose to work for more two extra hours, we will get more salary, but we don’t have enough time to study to get a high grade. Yet, when we choose not to work for more two extra hours, we won’t receive an additional salary but we have enough time to pass the grade. Which one is worth enough? Sacrifying one choice to another choice is the example of thinking at the margin.  There is also a marginal cost that we have to ‘pay’ when we choose one choice over the other.  

Another example of thinking at the margin is when we drive around the block to park our car for an event. We can choose whether waiting for the free on-street parking spot to be available or spending $11 for a paid parking lot. The marginal cost will be spending $11 for a parking lot or an hour driving around the block to find a free parking spot. We just have to choose which one is “the best option” to take.  

LEARN MORE:  

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:

1.Marginal analysis helps a firm to determine the?  

2.Which would be an example of an opportunity cost?  

KEYWORDS: margin, thinking at the margin, marginal cost  

Subject: History

Class: 10-12

Sub-chapter: Margin  

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