Today I want to share with you some pretty stunning and stunning stories, to be precise, some very interesting multiple-choice questions for life.
Question 1 is as follows:
Suppose you won a free ticket to Jay Chou’s concert tonight. Note that you cannot resell. But in addition, the celebrity group Mayday is also holding a concert tonight, and you really want to go there. The ticket price for Mayday's concert is 2,000 yuan. Of course, you can watch his performances at other times, but your psychological endurance is 3,000 yuan. In other words, if the ticket price of Mayday is more than 3,000 yuan, you would rather not watch it, even if you have nothing else to do. Apart from that, there is no other cost to watch the performances of the two.
Let me ask, what is the opportunity cost of watching Jay Chou’s concert?
A.0 yuan
B.1000 yuan
C.2000 yuan
D.3000 yuan
Correct answer: B
Analysis: When watching Jay Chou’s concert, the only thing that must be sacrificed is to watch Mayday’s concert. For you, the Mayday ticket is worth 3,000 yuan. If you don’t go to see it tonight, you will save 2,000 yuan in ticket fees. So if you don’t go to the Mayday show, the value you give up is 3,000-2,000=1,000 (yuan). If you think that watching Jay Chou’s concert is worth at least 1,000 yuan, you should go to watch it; otherwise, go to the Mayday concert.
Key points reminder: Opportunity cost concept
Now, I will share with you another more lifelike topic. After all, the tickets for Jay Chou and Mayday can be decided without thinking for fans of a certain person.
Question 2 is as follows:
You want to buy a mouse at the school grocery store next door, which is worth 100 yuan. A friend told you that the same mouse is only sold for 50 yuan in a certain Runfa supermarket in the city. Will you go to the city to buy this 50 yuan mouse? Or buy it directly at the grocery store next door? No matter where you go, if the mouse fails, it will be warranted by the manufacturer.
What choice would you make?
Of course, there is no absolutely correct or wrong answer here. Everyone has to weigh the costs and benefits. But most people should choose to go to the supermarket in the city to buy a mouse.
Now look at the next question.
Question three is as follows:
You want to buy a laptop at the computer store next to the school, worth 2,550 yuan. The same computer is sold for 2,500 yuan in a Runfa supermarket in the city. No matter where you buy it, if there is any problem, you will return it to the original warranty.
Where will you buy this computer this time?
This time, I believe most people will choose to buy it in the computer store next to the school. As far as the question itself is concerned, such an answer is not wrong.
But if you are a rational person what to do in both cases, he would say that cost-effectiveness principle clearly shows that the two answers should be the same. After all, in the two examples, the benefits you get into the city are 50 yuan, which is the money you save. The cost is the price you pay to enter the city. In the two cases, this is the same. Since the cost and the benefits are the same, the answer should naturally be the same.
However, most people seem to think that buying a mouse in the city can save half of the money, while buying a computer worth 2,550 yuan can only save 50 yuan. The former seems to have much greater benefits than the latter. Unfortunately, this is not the right way to think. Thinking about the problem by percentage may be appropriate. Putting it in other places, but not here.
Key points reminder: Cost-effectiveness principle
After sharing the above story, leave a question for everyone to think:
You will have to go two trips soon, but you only have one chance to use a discount coupon for air tickets. The air ticket to Beijing is 200 yuan, which can save 90 yuan after a discount; the air ticket to Hainan is 2,000 yuan, which can save 100 yuan after a discount.
Which travel should you use the ticket discount card?
Please leave your answer in the comment section!
Note: The case in this article is inspired by the American natural economist, professor of economics and management at the Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, and a special commentator of the New York Times "New York Live" column, Robert Frank.
Later, share with you more interesting and thought-provoking stories~
Later, share with you more interesting and thought-provoking stories~
