Opportunity Cost

"Opportunity Cost" is an economic concept. It describes the lost value incurred by following one path over another.

So with that in mind, consider Richard Branson's pledge to donate $3 billion toward renewable energy. Jeff Harrell has the lowdown:

I find myself wondering this, though: If Richard Branson has three billion dollars to spend on blue-sky research in a field we don’t even have encouraging theories for yet, how come he can’t spare a few million to invest in solving the drinking water problem?