Swaziland is a small African country where six in ten people live in poverty and most firms are small and use little capital equipment. In October 2015 it opened a new airport. Some economists suggest that the building of the airport involved a high opportunity cost and caused a range of external costs. The building of the airport is part of the government’s plan to turn the country from a developing into a developed country.

(a) What may be the opportunity cost of building an airport?

The business cycle is the periodic but irregular up-and-down movement in economic activity, measured by fluctuations in real gross domestic product (gdp) and other macroeconomic variables. a business cycle is typically characterized by four phases—recession, recovery, growth, and decline—that repeat themselves over time. economists note, however, that complete business cycles vary in length. the duration of business cycles can be anywhere from about two to twelve years, with most cycles averaging six years in length. some business analysts use the business cycle model and terminology to study and explain fluctuations in business inventory and other individual elements of corporate operations. but the term "business cycle" is still primarily associated with larger (industry-wide, regional, national, or even international) business trends.