SCARCITY: A pervasive condition of human existence that exists because society has unlimited wants and needs, but limited resources used for their satisfaction. In other words, while we all want a bunch of stuff, we can't have everything that we want. In slightly different words, this scarcity problem means: (1) that there's never enough resources to produce everything that everyone would like produced; (2) that some people will have to do without some of the stuff that they want or need; (3) that doing one thing, producing one good, performing one activity, forces society to give up something else; and (4) that the same resources can not be used to produce two different goods at the same time. We live in a big, bad world of scarcity. This big, bad world of scarcity is what the study of economics is all about. That's why we usually subtitle scarcity: THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM.

     See also | first rule of scarcity | unlimited wants and needs | limited resources | satisfaction | resources | wants | needs | production | consumption | economics | opportunity cost | scarce resource |

SCARCITY, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2023. [Accessed: June 1, 2023].

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An alternative term for opportunity cost, which is the highest valued alternative foregone in the pursuit of an activity. Opportunity cost, or economic cost, is one of the most fundamental concepts used in the study of economics, hence the reason it is also termed economic cost. Economic, or opportunity cost is also commonly termed just cost.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time browsing about a thrift store hoping to buy either a genuine down-filled comforter or a 200-foot blue garden hose. Be on the lookout for deranged pelicans.
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