IMPLICIT COST: An opportunity cost that does NOT involve a money payment or a market transaction. This should be contrasted with explicit cost that DOES involve a money payment or a market transaction. The common misconception among non-economists out there in the real world is that the term "cost" is synonymous with the term "payment," that is, all costs are explicit costs, to be a cost you have to give up some money. Well, I'm here to tell you that this isn't true. Cost is opportunity cost. It's the satisfaction NOT received from activities NOT pursued. It's the value of foregone production. And not all opportunity costs involve a money payment.

     See also | opportunity cost | money | market | explicit cost | normal profit | accounting cost | economic cost | scarcity |

IMPLICIT COST, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2026. [Accessed: April 11, 2026].

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The production possibilities analysis, which is the alternative combinations of two goods that an economy can produce with given resources and technology, can be used to illustrate opportunity cost--the highest valued alternative foregone in the pursuit of an activity.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time going from convenience store to convenience store wanting to buy either hand lotion, a big bottle of hand lotion or a lighted magnifying glass. Be on the lookout for malfunctioning pocket calculators.
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