Compléter Economic ProblemVersion en ligne Explain the economic problem par patrick livingstone 1 option benefit sacrifice alternative real opportunity loss Making an economic choice creates a because alternatives must be given up , which results in the loss of benefit that the would have provided . For example , if an individual has £10 to spend , and if books are $10 and a CD is $10 , buying a book means the loss of the that would have been gained from the CD . Similarly , land and other resources , which have been used to build a new school could have been used to build a new factory . The loss of the next best represents the sacrifice and is referred to as cost . The opportunity cost of choosing the school is the of the factory , and what could have been produced .