scarcity - Management Essays

In economics, scarcity is defined as not having sufficient resources to produce enough to fulfill unlimited subjective wants. Alternatively, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be attained at the same time, so that trade-offs one good against others are made.
Humans have many different types of wants and needs. Economics looks only at man's material wants and needs. These are satisfied by consuming (using) either goods (physical items such as food) or

services (non-physical items such as heating). There are three reasons why wants and needs are virtually unlimited: Goods eventually wear out and need to be replaced. New or improved products become available. And, people get fed up with what they already own.
When economists refer to the "opportunity cost" of a resource, they mean the value of the next-highest-valued alternative use of that resource. If, for example, you spend time and money going to a movie, you cannot spend that time at home reading a book, and you can't spend the money on something else. If your next-best alternative to seeing the movie is reading the book, then the opportunity cost of seeing the movie is the money spent plus the pleasure you forgo by not reading the book.

(2006). More pain than gain. Economist, 380(8495), 12. Retrieved October 1, 2006, from Academic Search Premier Database.