reply to these two post for me

post 1

The last two major things I bought were a new stove and a new dishwasher. I bought the items because my kitchen appliances did not match so I wanted to update my appliances. The opportunity cost, if I had not bought the new appliance, would have been to keep my old appliance and not take on debt to pay for them. According to our reading, there is a trade-off that compares the cost and benefits so the cost for my getting the two new appliances would be taking on debt payments Krugman and Wells, 2021). The benefit would be the appliances being more energy efficient saving a cost of utilities. The big box store that I bought the appliances from did not have stake in my purchase. The seller did not make commission or gain anything from the purchases.

I sell my labor to my company by earning a paycheck. I care about the company, and it is succeeding so knowing what the company's goals are is how I set the goals for myself. Since I am part of a big company, caring about what the owner wants is a different perspective. I do not work for the owner, but the result does provide gain for them.

Critical thinking is a big part of economic decision making for individuals because they must determine what is good for them. As everyone is involved in the way the economy performs their decisions also affect others.

Reference:

Krugman, P., & Wells, R. (2021). Microeconomics (6^th ed.) Macmillan Learning.

post 2

The most recent major thing I purchased was a C02 laser. We bought the laser for my husband's rod building business to add custom grips to his offerings. The opportunity cost for purchasing the Mira 7 was the Nova 14 because we were not able to purchase both machines. The Nova 14 had a larger working space, stronger laser beam, and the ability to cut or engrave faster. Had we not purchased the Mira 7 laser the opportunity cost would have been the ability to engrave rod grips. The salesperson for the laser was not very concerned about our needs. It appeared the seller's real motivation was to make a commission check.

The next major thing purchased was a boat. We bought the boat to go fishing and spend time relaxing on the water. The opportunity cost for making the boat purchase was a center console boat that would make fishing much easier and more comfortable. Had we not purchased the deck boat the opportunity cost would have been the ability to fish in deeper water and the ability to pick the exact spot to fish in the ocean. The salesperson seemed to care about our needs as we were shopping for the boat. He asked a lot of questions and provided a lot of answers. When the boat we wanted wasn't available on the showroom floor, he suggested that we wait to ensure we got the features that were important to us. I think the seller's motivation was to be of service and help us make a purchase that was right for us.

When I go to work, I "sell" my labor to them because I believe in the work that my team and I do. We provide training, quality assurance, and career development to the execution teams in the organization. All of these aspects help an individual grow and develop, which is important to me. I do care about what the owner of the company wants. The owners of the company are transparent about what our Objective Key Results (OKRs) are and they give us an opportunity to bring ideas to the table to improve and expand the OKRs.

I see critical thinking playing a role in economic decision making because of the Principles of Individual Choice, especially principle #3, "'How much' decisions require making trade-offs at the margin: comparing the costs and benefits of doing a little bit more of an activity versus doing a little bit less" (Krugman & Wells, 2018, p. 8). So, if my husband and I make a choice to go boating every Sunday, we must think critically about the trade-offs that we are making. For example, the financial cost to go boating every weekend is high considering the amount of fuel for the boat, the amount of fuel for the truck to tow the boat, and the expense of purchasing bait to fish. Thinking critically about this decision means that we would need a little bit less boating, maybe once or twice a month instead of every weekend.

~Melody

Reference

Krugman, P. & Wells, R. (2021). Microeconomics (6th ed.). Macmillan Learning.