Wants, Needs & Scarcity University High School Mr. Barnett

Cathenne wants:

Kevin, Emilia, Dayanna want:

Tessa wants:

Joseph wants to:

Courtney wants:

Stephanie, Catalina, Chenxi want:

Michelle wants:

Timothy wants:

Charley wants:

Zac wants:

Elena wants:

Adrian wants:

Caitlyn wants:

Alexis & Fabian want:

Daniella and Mei lin want

Daniella, Natalie, Zack want:

Kevin and Sergio want:

Wants vs Needs  As you can tell we have unlimited wants  A want is a desire, often psychologically motivated, for a particular item or thing  A need is something that is usually physiological necessary and has no adequate substitute

Wants vs Needs  Society has unlimited wants but limited resources  Thus, there is scarcity  Something is scarce if there is a limited amount of it  Scarcity occurs because we have virtually unlimited wants but limited resources

Wants vs Needs  Since there are limited resources but unlimited wants, there is a cost for everything  The cost is not necessarily monatary  They can be social, environmental, psychological, emotional, physical..etc etc  These are called opportunity costs

So what is the definition of economics?  Economics is the study of how individuals and society, experiencing virtually limitless wants, chooses to allocate its scarce resources to satisfy those wants

Opportunity Cost  Opportunity cost is the value of the next highest valued alternative or foregone cost.  Not necessarily monetary  Every decision that you will make in life involves opportunity costs