No one is immune to scarcity, not even the richest man in the world (Sexton, 2013). Trade-offs are an element of every decision and finding the opportunity cost in each choice, helps one to build the most rational assessment possible. In theory, assuming Bill Gates gains $100 per hour and a housekeeper is paid $10 for that hour, it is simple to perceive that the housekeeper has the lower opportunity cost and therefore should, in fact, clean the Gates home opposed to Bill doing so. In this case, the comparative advantage analysis results in the same conclusion, the maid’s opportunity cost of .10 compared to Mr. Gates with 1. Nonetheless, all factors considered, the revenue would not be Bill’s opportunity cost. Most likely, the loss of
