Michael Pakaluk on Wasting Time

"To waste time is not to use it for nothing, but to purchase something much less valuable with it than what one could have purchased. . . .

"Time is an indefinite good ready to be assigned to or used for a variety of different things, like money. When we assign time to something, we purchase that thing with that time. The time is gone forever, like money once spent. What remains is what we purchased with it. We have a finite amount of time to spend, and a finite amount of money.

"What we might have purchased with the time, but did not, is what economists call the 'opportunity cost' of the use of time. All use of time has an opportunity cost."

In a recent commentary, Dr. Michael Pakaluk reflected on the love of God and neighbor, for us as Catholics, as the sole criterion of whether we've wasted our time..

To access Dr. Pakaluk's complete essay, please visit:

The Pilot: Echoes: Michael Pakaluk: On wasting time (22 AUG 25)