Your best friend buys you lunch on your birthday. You think this was not a free lunch because: a. even if you didn’t pay in dollars for it, you paid for it in extra calories. b. the resources used to produce the lunch were not available to satisfy other wants. c. you disagree with the expression “the best things in life are free.” d. you can eat only if you work out first. e. neither sea water nor air is free.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is b. the resources used to produce the lunch were not available to satisfy other wants.
Explanation:
Even though you did not pay for the lunch directly with money, the lunch still has a cost in terms of resources. In economics, this concept is known as opportunity cost. The resources—such as time, labor, raw materials, and energy—used to produce and deliver your lunch are resources that could have been used for other purposes. These resources are limited, meaning that if they are used for one purpose (like making your lunch), they cannot be used for another purpose (like making someone else’s lunch or producing goods that could satisfy other wants).
In this case, the lunch is not “free” because the resources that went into it (such as the time and effort of your friend, the cost of ingredients, and the energy involved in cooking and serving) could have been used elsewhere, but were instead allocated to making your lunch. Even though it was a gift, the lunch came at a cost in terms of resources, which is what makes it not truly “free” in the economic sense.
The other options are not directly related to the economic concept of “free lunch”:
- a. The extra calories are not a direct economic cost in the same sense as opportunity cost.
- c. The saying “the best things in life are free” is a philosophical idea, but does not address economic concepts of cost.
- d. The need to work out is more about personal lifestyle choices and health, not economic principles.
- e. While sea water and air might seem free, they are not typically considered “lunch” or tied to the concept of opportunity cost in this scenario.