Law of Increasing Marginal Costs

See: The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns. This is the flipside (same thing) of the law of increasing marginal costs.

The law of increasing marginal costs says that, as more and more of something is consumed, marginal costs increase over the short-run.

While the law of diminishing marginal returns looks at this concept through the lens of marginal benefits, the law of increasing marginal costs looks through the lens of marginal costs. Since marginal costs and marginal benefits are related, these terms are two sides of the same coin.

Imagine consuming some delicious orange juice. As you drink more and more of it, each sip is less exciting (decreasing marginal benefit), yet the dollar cost of each sip is the same. You’re getting less enjoyment from each additional sip of orange juice with a constant dollar cost per sip, which means your marginal costs are going up with each sip, too.

Yep, only the most dismal of the sciences would ruin OJ for you.