Why your past investments should never dictate your future decisions
Mastering the concept of marginal thinking can transform your decision-making. This video explains how to weigh the true costs and benefits of your next move, helping you avoid the trap of the sunk cost fallacy.
Marginal thinking is a fundamental economic principle used to reach optimal decisions. The process is straightforward: when faced with a choice, you must compare the marginal benefit of an action against its marginal cost. If the benefit outweighs the cost, the action is worth taking.
This approach is applicable to various everyday scenarios, such as adjusting the volume on a television, determining pricing for a retail shop, or deciding whether to leave a dull movie. It also provides a solution to the sunk cost fallacy, which occurs when we let unchangeable past costs—like the price paid for an item or time spent in a relationship—influence our current choices. Since the past cannot be altered, only the potential benefits and costs of the next step remain relevant.
Source: What Is Thinking on the Margin, and How Does It Solve the Sunk Cost Fallacy?