1. Emily went to the mall with enough money to buy Taylor Swift's new album or a dress. When

she arrives at the store there is only one copy of the CD left. She buys the CD and leaves the

mall. What is the opportunity cost?

The opportunity cost in this case, is the dress that was forgone.

Explanation:

Opportunity cost in economics, is the cost of the benefit that was given up, when a buyer chooses an item over the other.

In this case, Emily was faced with two choices:

1. Getting the CD of Taylor Swift's new album

2. Buying a new dress.

However, the fact that the CD was the only one left in the store at the moment, caused the CD to increase in value drastically, over the dress. Emily must have seen getting the CD as a once in a life time opportunity, as opposed to getting the dress which can be done anytime some extra money comes in.

Hence, the opportunity of getting dress that was forgone because of the presence of limited funds was the opportunity cost of the shopping trip.