 The science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.

 Consumers can never get enough…..there is always something out there they want.

 Insufficiency or shortness of supply.

 There is not enough goods and services to satisfy everyone's wants and needs.

 What goods and services should be produced?  How should the goods and services be produced?  Who should get the goods and services?

 Primary Activity (mining or agriculture)—where workers come in direct contact with the environment, considered the basic level of economic activity.  Secondary Activity (canning factory or lumber yard)--involves the manufacture of raw materials into finished industrial products.  Tertiary Activity (education, retail, finance or government work)—service-based economic activity.  Quaternary Activity—collection and manipulation of information, most recent form of economic activity, and it is based on the development of technology.

 Inflation  Deflation  Disinflation