<P> In economics and cost accounting, total cost (TC) describes the total economic cost of production and is made up of variable costs, which vary according to the quantity of a good produced and include inputs such as labor and raw materials, plus fixed costs, which are independent of the quantity of a good produced and include inputs (capital) that cannot be varied in the short term, such as buildings and machinery . </P> <P> Total cost in economics includes the total opportunity cost of each factor of production as part of its fixed or variable costs . </P> <P> The rate at which total cost changes as the amount produced changes is called marginal cost . This is also known as the marginal unit variable cost . </P>

When are fixed costs equal to total costs