SCARCITY

What is scarcity?Meaning of scarcity

The existence of scarcityThe economic problem

Evidence of the existence of scarcity

WHAT IS SCARCITY?• Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly

unlimited human wants in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs. A common misconception on scarcity is that an item has to be important for it to be scarce. However, this is not true, for something to be scarce, it has to be hard to obtain, hard to create, or both. Simply put, the production cost of something determines if it is scarce or not. For example, although air is more important to us than diamonds, it is cheaper simply because the production cost of air is zero. Diamonds on the other hand have a high production cost. They have to be found and processed, both which require a lot of money. Additionally, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be pursued at the same time; trade-offs are made of one good against others. In an influential 1932 essay, Lionel Robbins defined economics as "the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses."

THE EXISTENCE OF SCARCITY• Scarcity exists because mankind hasn't yet figured out how to use his

mind to tap into the quantum field and duplicate matter the way Jesus did. It can be done. We just have to figure out how to do it. I think we're pretty close to it, myself. You've already likely had audible manifestations from the quantum field when listening to a CD you've heard a hundred times before, then one day your mind wanders and suddenly the CD sounds fantastic... like it's got a whole new section of music you've never heard before. Well, that's not on the CD. That is actually created by your own mind when you're not aware of it. Your own mind interacts with the quantum field and creates electrical impulses in your brain that mesh with the ones created by the actual sound waves hitting your eardrums in the car. So you actually do "hear" the music, but you hear it directly inside your brain via electrical impulses.

THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM• Making a choice made normally involves a trade-off – this means

that choosing more of one thing can only be achieved by giving up something else in exchange.

• Housing: Choices about whether to rent or buy a home – there are costs and benefits to renting a property or in choosing to buy a home with a mortgage. Both decisions involve risk. People have to weigh up the costs and benefits of the decision.Working: Do you work full-time or part-time? Is it worth your while studying for a degree? How have these choices been affected by the introduction of university tuition fees?Transport and travel: The choice between using Euro-Tunnel, a low-cost ferry or an airline when travelling to Western Europe.

EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE OF SCARCITY

• COPPER [CU] Currently copper prices are at record highs. the sudden jump in prices have prompted dozens of people to rob buildings of copper. That stopped after two people robbed a building that the SWAT just happened to be in. But in other cities it continues on. Copper's prices has jumped up because there is more demand and less supply. If supply equaled demand, then the price would stay the same, if there were more supply than demand, then copper would be really cheap. Copper is now scarce in the US, prompting prices to go up.

EXAMPLES OF SCARCITY

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