COST: Best referred to as opportunity cost, this is the highest valued alternative foregone in the pursuit of an activity. This is a hallmark of anything dealing with economics -- or life for that matter -- because any action that you take prevents you from doing something else. The value expressed in terms of satisfaction of the foregone activity is your opportunity cost. Because there are usually several alternatives that aren't pursued, opportunity cost is the highest-valued one. An opportunity cost is sometimes compensated with some form of payment, like a wage. However, the existence of an opportunity cost is independent of any actual cash outlay.

     See also | opportunity cost | economic cost | economics | value | satisfaction | explicit cost | implicit cost | accounting cost |

COST, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2026. [Accessed: June 12, 2026].

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A condition in the market in which the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied at the existing price. Because buyers are unable to buy as much of the good as they want, a shortage generally causes an increase in the market price, which then acts to restore equilibrium. A shortage, which also goes by the terms excess demand and sellers' market, is one of two basic states of disequilibrium for the market. The other is surplus.

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