...Scarcity Think of a thing that you like to have. What would your life be like if you suddenly couldn't get any more of it? People deal with this kind of problem every day. It's called scarcity. It comes from the word scarce, which means there isn't a lot of it or it isn't always available. Some fruits and vegetables are scarce in markets sometimes because those fruits or vegetables grow only at certain times of the year. Because the supply of fruits and vegetables is lower, there is a better chance that those fruits and vegetables will be scarce, or not always available. You may find that the market has no strawberries at all. Why? Either no shipments of strawberries came in, or so few strawberries came in that by the time you got there, they were all gone. What does this mean for the demand of strawberries? If enough people want strawberries when none are available, then the demand is quite high. And the demand is high not because the price is low (as is usually the case) but because the supply is low. An older person in your family can probably tell you about a time 30 years ago when there was a gasoline shortage. At that time, in the 1970s, gasoline was scarce. Many people wanted to buy it, but only a certain amount was available. This is a great example of scarcity: Wants are more than what is available. The supply was low. Because the demand was greater than the supply, the gasoline was scarce. So how does scarcity relate to supply and demand? Scarcity is a measure...
Words: 2534 - Pages: 11
...Scarcity The basic economic problem that arises when people have unlimited wants but there is limited supply is known as Scarcity. This happens when human wants increase and supply decreases. Resources are means by which we make products that can be natural resources such as raw materials, human resource or manufactured resources such as oil. Scarcity, to a large extent can also be seen as a condition where no society has enough resources to produce all the goods and services necessary to satisfy all human wants. Due to the increase in wants people have to suffer severely. People are dying and suffering to receive food, water and space for them to live. Scarcity of water, land and food is the biggest issue in the world today. Many countries are suffering these issue for example Africa and India. Africa is currently suffering from scarcity of food. African famines have become more frequent, more widespread and more severe which cause the food shortage. Agricultural problems include soil infertility, land degradation and erosion, which can destroy whole crops and livestock diseases. People in Africa are facing harsh condition. There is a major percentage of people who are ill or are starving the food scarcity. One way that could help Africa alleviate food scarcity is to depend on imports from countries where food production is higher than demand or to buy food in large amounts for cheap prices. Many people suffer all around the world due to scarcity. Scarcity can lead to a...
Words: 298 - Pages: 2
...What is scarcity? What makes scarcity so important in today’s economy? By definition we know scarcity simply means there are unlimited human wants which are met by limited resources. We have learned that economics is basically the study of choice, and we have also learned that scarcity brings along the ability to have a choice. So in essence without scarcity we would have no choice, which would basically mean there would be no economy. So we see now how important scarcity really is to our economy and to our ability to have choice. So how does scarcity affect our lives in a real world situation? If we were to take our natural resources for example, we find the most used are that of oil, land, water, and time. These elements are found to be some of the most important to the economy because they each provide money for the market. Obviously the more they are used, the more unavailable they become. We also find the higher the demand for them, their costs start to become higher. We also find that time plays becomes an important role in this cycle because, as we all know, time is never really on our side. There just is not a lot of time before resources run out. It is important that we use time in the best way we can. For example, if my ice maker produces one thousand blocks of ice in one day, and there is an order for one thousand and two hundred, what should I do? I can either stay late to make the extra two hundred blocks, but I would have to miss a family event and...
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...Tina Campbell 67212 Micro Application Paper #l ECONOMIC PRINCIPLE: Scarcity -- How it forces us to make choices which result in opportunity cost. Economists define scarcity by having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world that has limited resources. Simply put, regardless of the resources available, humans will always want more, therefore, the resources will never be enough. Opportunity costs can be explained in what one thing costs by having another. We have unlimited needs but not unlimited resources so we must constantly make choices about the things most important to us. When we do that, we are weighing the opportunity costs and where we derive the most pleasure or enjoyment. Scarcity and opportunity costs are related because of the unlimited wants with limited resources. It’s a give and take relationship. “If I take ‘A’, I have to forego ‘B’.” Our choices are defined by the resources. As income goes up (capital resource), our opportunity costs might change but scarcity never ceases. Scarcity and shortage are not the same thing. Scarcity exists because humans have unlimited wants regardless of the resources available. A shortage exists because at a given point in time, a shortage of a particular is there because the supply and demand don’t match up. The demand is greater than what the suppliers can or are willing to deliver. Economists cite opportunity costs when they talk about the benefits you could have gotten if you had used an alternative...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...2006. The Abundance Versus the Scarcity Mentality in Professional Development and Growth • Abundance mentality is a deep belief that there is enough for all – Enough work, enough jobs, enough resources. • It is living with favour minded attitude. One can define it also as optimism. Seeing the glass half full rather than half empty. Thinking big and expecting big. • By contrast the scarcity mentality is a belief that your success will imply someone else’s failure; that there are scarce resources and if you get them you must deny someone else; that there is scarcity of jobs; that the cake is not enough and I must grab my share. • The barriers are in our minds and we will not go beyond the barriers in our minds. The difference between successful people and the less successful is largely their mentality of abundance or of scarcity. • People with an abundance mentality have an internal security based on a principled centered living. Their value system is self-anchored. They are not too worried of saying/doing the wrong thing because they ordinarily talk from a point of truth. This frees their mind to bigger/better thoughts because they have nothing to cover. What they said yesterday is what they will repeat today without contradiction. This internal security enhances their humility. It allows them to enjoy professional freedom. They can choose what they want to do. By contrast people with a scarcity mentality seek their validation from...
Words: 610 - Pages: 3
...same thing as scarcity.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why or why not? Business dictionary states the following: “Scarcity and shortage must be viewed with an economic eye on the problem. These terms are related to goods and services that are produced for public consumption. Both terms relate to the amount of goods and services available, but each has a very different meaning.” Scarcity is the basic economic problem that people have because of their unlimited wants and their resources are unlimited as well. There are several economic decisions that have to be made in order to allocate the resources efficiently. An example of scarcity would be oil. Oil is considered scarce because it comes from developing countries and it is very price competitive. This drives the prices for the oil to be at all time highs because of its limited amount. Shortage is the demand for a product or service that exceeds the total available supply. Shortages are caused by miscalculated demand or perhaps under produced demand on purpose. An example of a shortage would be a video game. During the holiday season a company introduces a new video game that they only made a supply of 1,000,000 copies. Within the continental U.S. and other countries they must provide each retail store that sells the product with a limited amount of copies. This makes consumers stand or sleep outside retail stores for hours just to be the one the few to get the video game. Scarcity and shortage are...
Words: 337 - Pages: 2
...Scarcity Scarcity is a “fundamental concept of economics that indicates that there is less of good/resources freely available from nature than people would like” (James Gwartney). These goods or resources can be Human, Physical or Natural resources such as workers, machines or acres of lands. In our textbook, Gwartney explains that by supplying our ever growing population, our natural resources just cannot provide an unlimited number of different goods and services. Scarcity also means that we all must make choices between these goods/resources. Should I buy a bag of flour or a loaf of bread? Should I plant tomatoes or roses? When we make these choices, we always face tradeoffs between attaining one desire or another. David R. Henderson in his article wrote: At a zero price (and not a price set at zero by government regulation or caused to be zero by a government subsidy), is there enough of the good to satisfy everyone’s demands? If not, the good is scarce. He states that the vast majority of goods, which are scare (not free) directly leads to tradeoffs, where if we want a certain good, another must be sacrificed. Scarcity and the choices we make when faced with tradeoffs are daily norms in every person’s life. The scarcity of time would be a great example that everyone faces every day. We all have the same 24 hours. If you spend 2 hours checking your Facebook or emails, that is time spent away from family members or friends. The Old Testament supplies us with many examples...
Words: 436 - Pages: 2
...------------------------------------------------- Economic problem From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2012) | The economic problem, sometimes called the basic, central or fundamental economic problem, is one of the fundamental economic theories in the operation of any economy. It asserts that there is scarcity, or that the finite resources available are insufficient to satisfy all human wants and needs. The problem then becomes how to determine what is to be produced and how thefactors of production (such as capital and labor) are to be allocated. Economics revolves around methods and possibilities of solving the economic problem. Economic problem arises mainly due to two reasons- (i) human wants are unlimited (ii) means to satisfy human wants are scarce. Contents [hide] * 1 Overview * 1.1 Opportunity cost and Production Possibility Frontier or Production Possibility Curve. * 1.2 Needs * 1.3 Wants * 1.4 Choice * 2 See also ------------------------------------------------- Overview[edit source | editbeta] The economic problem is most simply explained by the question "how do we satisfy unlimited wants with limited resources?" The premise of the economic problem model is that wants are constant and infinite due to constantly changing demands...
Words: 1767 - Pages: 8
...Economics Notes ****The Economic Problem |What Do These Notes Cover? | |To have a look at the mind map for this resource, please follow this link. | |If you would like to listen to these notes as an audio recording, please follow this link [2MB]. | Mind Maps have been produced to introduce topics and give students an overview of key topics being studied. The maps can be viewed as a whole page or, for those who prefer a more linear approach, as a text version. [pic] • Scarce Resources: o Land ▪ Rent o Labour ▪ Wages o Capital ▪ Interest o Enterprise ▪ Profit o Uneven Distribution • The Science of Choice (linked to Scarce Resources) o Value o Utility o Sacrifice ▪ Opportunity Cost How do we sum up the basic economic problem? We all suffer from it and spend most of our lives trying to resolve it. Essentially, the economic problem stems from the fact that as humans, we have unlimited wants and needs. A need is something that can be seen as being essential to survival, such as food, water, shelter and warmth. A want is something that we would like to have but which is not essential to survival - a car, the latest version...
Words: 2225 - Pages: 9
...Article Analysis 1: Medicine After Oil In the article, Medicine After Oil, author Daniel Bednarz discusses the excessive usage of oil in the medical industry. America, as a whole, is extremely dependent upon the use of oil and natural gas in many areas. Bednarz makes the point that unless something changes in the healthcare system to reduce energy usage, the scarcity of oil could cause the medical system to collapse. With our medical system already in crisis, “The coming scarcity of fossil fuels, on top of inflationary costs of medicine…and the expenses of treating Baby Boomers,” explains Bednarz, could easily be all that it takes to break down the medical industry unless peak oil is used to recreate a better healthcare system. The issue that the medical industry is ultimately facing is due to the scarcity of oil and natural gas resources. Since scarcity is the imbalance between our desires and resources, we need to realize that our desires for healthcare are not always practical with our available resources. Bednez suggests that a better balance should be found by reconstructing the healthcare system in order to prevent a collapse. Another thing to keep in mind is that for each area in which we are using our resources, we are taking away our ability to use that resource for another application; thus using our resources in the medical field has an opportunity cost. Bednez discusses the fact that the United States spends more money on healthcare than some other places...
Words: 348 - Pages: 2
...recognize the fact that initial investments made in more-costly materials and methods will lead to greater savings on the long term. Also, “the pursue of sustainability can be a powerful path to reinvention for all business facing limits on their resources and their customers’ buying power”³. Besides the impressive cost efficiencies, the growth that companies have gained by extending their sustainability efforts to the operations of their customers is even more impressive. There have been build unique business models by companies, by boosting the customers’ buying power and by creating interdependencies that are hard to copy. There are several reasons why employees stay focused on ambitious ‘green’ goals. One of the reasons is of course scarcity, the...
Words: 995 - Pages: 4
...1.03 Scarcity and Opportunity Cost Natasha Anno 7/27/15 1. For each of the following, describe the opportunity cost when you decide to do each activity. a. If I decide to study for the exam, I lose out on surfing at the beach in Florida during the summer time. Surfing would be the opportunity cost. b. If I decide to go to college after high school, I lose out on making money that would most likely be put forth into paying a ludicrously high tuition and cost of textbooks, also having a steady reliable income to not have to solely rely on one’s parents. Financial independence and the freedom from college debt would be the opportunity cost of a college education. c. If I decide to leave early to school, I miss out on eating the most important meal of the day that provides the necessary brain function for the coming school day. Performing at my best is the opportunity cost to leaving early for school. d. If I decide to complete my part of the group project, I miss out on watching the minion movie everyone is talking about. The experience of laughter and one-eyed banana-eating aliens is the opportunity cost of doing my part of the group project. e. If I decide to go home early on a school night, I miss out on a teenage/adolescent/young adult party most likely accompanied by booze, underage sex, and probably illegal substances. The experience of being detained in a juvenile detention center is the cost of having personal responsibility....
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
...Why do people buy counterfeit products? 1 Running head: Why do people buy counterfeit products? Why people by counterfeit products? Monica Rodriguez American Intercontinental University Dr. Yamil Guevara Why do people buy counterfeit products? 2 ABSTRACT The elaboration and commercialization of counterfeit products is an issue that has been growing prominently within the last 20 years. There is no place in the world free with this type of products. The modernization and the globalization make the counterfeiting process more difficult to control, affecting not only the countries economy, but also its safety and the citizens’ general integrity. Knowing the importance of this problem, different organizations around the world are making a big effort trying to create a variety of countermeasures in order to stop the development of this sector and of course the negative consequences. In order to create effective measures, it is necessary to completely understand the counterfeiting process and the specific reasons why people acquire counterfeit products. The objective of this study is to describe what are the different variables, and their direct influence on the purchaser’s behavior at the moment of buying counterfeit merchandise. The data collection method is based on focus groups, interviews and questionnaires. The results obtained from this study can help to understand the complete counterfeit process...
Words: 3730 - Pages: 15
...The focus on this page is about the water scarcity problem due to drought in Tampa Bay region and how the Swiftmud and Tampa Bay Water could allocate the available resource to the public both economically as well as empathetically. Authors Robert L. Beekman and Brian T. Kench, have used Friedrich Hayek’s ideas to construct a rational economic order. Friedrich has stressed on few points in his book “The Use of Knowledge in Society”, on how to solve the economic problems and how to make the best possible decisions with the given information, which we will see in this paper. The economist Friedrich Hayek has explained in his papers on how to find an economic order with a few considerations and assumptions. According to him, there is a solution to all economic problems if we possess all the relevant information, if we can start from a given system of preference and if we had the complete knowledge of available means. From his view the mathematical equations, which is used to solve the problem gives the best emphatic solution but does not solve the economic problem of the society. This is because the economic calculus never gets the data from the macro level but from a single mind. And this in return will help us on how to allocate the given resources but not how to secure the best of the resources. One of the major points that Friedrich talks about in his paper is knowledge transfer and how the inefficiency in the transfer could hurt the economy in a long term. The “planning” is...
Words: 738 - Pages: 3
...Issues Inappropriate use of coercive power: Paul Kost exercised coercive power which is the ability to punish if employees failed to conform or prevent someone from obtaining desirable rewards. This source of power could make things difficult for employees due to the implied force or disciplinary action that relates to threats and punishments and so employees working under such a coercive director are unlikely to be committed that leads to low productivity. Furthermore, punishment strategy could result in undesirable side effects such as anxiety, resentment, reducing employees’ loyalty and work performance in the workplace. To add on, the distinct outcome that might result from the use of coercive power is that it often generates resistance when use excessively. This indicates that resistant employees do not wish to comply with the request such it might lead workers to deliberately avoid carrying out instructions or might even sabotage goal attainment. Thus, the issue of depending too much on such coercive power could cause a ruthless and impoverished style of leadership as well as the coercive behaviour could violate the concept of empowerment that lead to hostility, aggression and high absenteeism on the part of subordinates. Inappropriate Organizational structure Fairisle Polytechnic has an inappropriate organizational structure and so there was a lack of proper formal arrangement of jobs within the institution which is important in running the campus effectively and...
Words: 1335 - Pages: 6