To determine the opportunity cost for the United States to produce diamonds, we need to consider how many units of corn the United States sacrifices to produce one unit of diamonds.
The United States can produce 60 thousand units of corn or 10 thousand units of diamonds in one week. To find the opportunity cost, we follow these steps:
1. Identify the quantities produced:
- Corn: 60 thousand units
- Diamonds: 10 thousand units
2. Calculate the opportunity cost of producing one unit of diamonds:
- Opportunity cost is defined as the ratio of what is given up to what is gained.
- Units of corn given up per unit of diamonds = (Corn units given up) / (Diamonds units produced).
3. Plug in the values from the table:
- Corn units given up: 60 thousand units
- Diamonds produced: 10 thousand units
Opportunity cost = 60 / 10 = 6
So, the opportunity cost for the United States to produce one unit of diamonds is 6 thousand units of corn. Therefore, the correct answer is:
6 thousand units of corn
