Rethinking the Concept of (In)Opportunity Cost and Parable of Broken Window: A Reflection on the Ideas of Frédéric Bastiat

This chapter deals with a well-known economic phenomena—the concept of opportunity cost. What is the relation between opportunity and probability? From the theoretical connection of previous chapter, random events and the element of chance are seen through an opportunity window. There will be a reflection on Frédéric Bastiat’s parable of broken window in consideration with interrelatedness of random events. After this reflection, the metaphorical and somewhat hypothetical “parable of broken window” will be applied to the modern innovation ecosystems. A recent literature survey will be conducted together with contemporary data to shed a new light on this historical phenomenon. In modern economic modeling, the parable of broken window has been reformulated as a Schumpeterian creative destruction. This issue spans over various cases such as natural disasters and other shocks we encounter in contemporary world.