Questions On Scarcity

The book is categorized into five sections: theological and ethical properties, basic assumptions of economics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, and international

ANSWER KEY Chapter 1 Chapter 1–1 II.D. the accumulation of those economic products that are tangible, scarce, useful, and transferable 1. scarcity of resources, which results from society not III.A. the market having enough resources to produce all of the things people would like to have III.B. the markets in which productive resources are bought and sold 2. A need is a basic requirement for survival and III.C. in product markets IV.A. the amount of output produced by a given amount of inputs in a specific period of time

Chapter 1, the Lesson: One of the greatest fallacies associated with economics is that there is an abundance of economists selfish interests involved. Because are selfish nature men tend to see only the immediate effects of decisions. This is especially true when it comes to economics. Every group has it’s own interests and because of this certain policies that may benefit one group, may not benefit another group. Because of self-interest, groups will banter back and fourth persistently until a solution is reached. This is one of the first causes of

Explain and evaluate: “if resources were infinitely abundant in relation to the demand for them, the economizing problem would dissolve in a sea of affluence.”

2. READING TIME = 10 Minutes 3. THIS EXAMATION PAPER HAS 9 PAGES 4. TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTIONS - 6. 5. ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS. 6. ALL QUESTIONS ARE OF EQUAL VALUE 7. TOTAL MARKS AVAILABLE FOR THIS EXAMATION - 60. 8. THE MARKS AWARDED TO EACH PART OF A QUESTION ARE INDICATED. 9. CANDIDATES MAY BRING THEIR OWN CALCULATORS TO THE EXAM 10. STATISTICAL TABLES ARE PROVIDED AT THE END OF THE EXAM PAPER 11. ALL ANSWERS MUST BE WRITTEN IN PEN. PENCILS MAY BE USED ONLY FOR DRAWING, SKETCHING OR GRAPHICAL WORK. 12. THIS PAPER MAY BE RETAINED BY THE CANDIDATE

2. The key economic concept that serves as the basis for the study of economics is:

2.Scarcity can best be defined as a situation in whichA) there are no buyers willing to purchase what sellers have produced.B) there are not enough goods to satisfy all of the buyers' demand.C) the resources we use to produce goods and services are limited.D) there is more than enough money to satisfy consumers' wants.Points Earned: 0.4/0.4Correct Answer(s): C

Scarcity is an economic term for a very serious and real-life issue. Scarcity is the problem that results from people having relatively unlimited wants even though the world’s resources are relatively limited. Simply put, there are not enough worldly provisions to satisfy all human wants and needs. The term has many examples. One case is the gasoline shortage in the 1970’s. The resource, gas, was scarce and there was not enough for everyone to freely consume anymore. People had to cut back on driving and there were certain days and times that people were allowed to refuel. Another example is the current drought that The United States, specifically California, is experiencing. The natural resource, water, is very scarce and the population is

“It is as important to examine what we forgo, as well as what we will get if we choose one alternative over another.” In other words, before a change is implemented into an economy, careful consideration of all other alternatives and their possible outcomes must be thoroughly examined. However, unforeseen outcomes often arise due to the imperfectability of humans.

Scarcity shows us the basic economic problem, where humans have unlimited wants, yet there are only finite amount of resources. Therefore, there are not enough resources to fulfill these unlimited needs. One real world example of a scarce resource is coal. Coal is a resource used for fossil fuel and is a combustible rock. Coal is used for “electricity generation, steel production, cement manufacturing and as a liquid fuel”. As you can see there are many uses for coal, thus there will be companies needing as much coal as they can get, however there is only a finite amount for everyone, therefore it must be allocated correctly in order to satisfy those needing coal for self interest and their own objectives.

The basic economic problem refers to a situation where human wants are unlimited while human resources are finite; it is the economic problem of scarcity of resources. At any one particular time, the resources of the earth are capable of producing a limited number of goods and services, however, human wants exceed limited production possibilities and this gives rise to what is known as the economic problem of scarcity.

1. Economics – the efficient allocation of the scarce means of production toward the satisfaction of human needs and wants.

One must bear in mind that our wants are virtually unlimited, while the resources available to satisfy these wants are limited. In other words when society demands more of a product than can actually be produced to fulfil those wants we have a problem of scarcity. An example of this would be the OPEC oil price shocks between 1973 and 1980. Yes, it is true that the price of oil rose and some individuals used substitutes but the economies of oil importing countries like Germany and Japan fell because OPEC now had more buying power since they had the control over a scarce resource. We can therefore think of oil as having become scarcer in economic terms when its price rose.

imagine living in a world in which there are infinite amounts of goods and resources to satisfy every human desire. People will not find need to budget their limited incomes, businesses will not worry about the cost of labor, and governments will not have reason to tax its citizens, or give importance to environmental issues. People living in this society will be equal to one another and everything would be free, like water in the ocean and sand in the desert. All prices would be zero and society will not find need for markets or financial institutions. Unfortunately we do not live in a utopia of limitless possibilities; we live in a scarce world of unlimited wants. Given unlimited wants, we must make the best use of our limited resources, a science our ancestors have developed and named economics. This study measures how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable commodities and distribute them efficiently among different people.

Scarcity is the condition in which human needs are everlastingly more noteworthy than the accessible supply of time, products, and assets.