Eric has plans to go to a play and already has a $50 nonrefundable, nonexchangeable, and nontransferable ticket. Now Ginny, whom Eric has wanted to date for a long time, asks him to a concert. Eric would prefer to go to the concert with Ginny and forgo the play, but he doesn't want to waste the $50 he spent on the play ticket.

From the perspective of an economist, if Eric decides to go to the concert with Ginny, what has he just done?

a. Made a choice that was not optimal

b. Correctly ignored a sunk cost

c. Incorrectly allowed a sunk cost to influence his decision

Correctly ignored a sunk cost.

Explanation:

In economics a sunk cost is one that an individual has already paid for and cannot recover. For example when payment is made for rent it is no longer recoverable.

In this instance Eric has already bought a $50 ticket that is nonrefundable, nonexchangeable, and nontransferable. This is a sunk cost.

Eric wants to go to the concert with Ginny who he wanted to date for a long time.

He will correctly ignore the sunk cost of going to the play because any more time spent on the play will not help recover the $50 already spent.

answer; property tax payment made in july and december;