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Economics vocabulary · Core Concepts

Scarcity

Meaning in economics, with examples

/ˈskeəsəti/nounCore term

In economics, scarcity means: The basic problem that resources such as time, money, land and labour are limited while people's wants are not, so choices always have to be made.

In Turkish: kıtlık, kaynakların kıtlığı

How it is used

Usually the first idea in an introductory economics course; economics is often described as the study of choice under scarcity. Outside the classroom it also describes a lack of one specific thing: water scarcity, the scarcity of skilled workers.

Example sentences

  1. Because of scarcity, every hour you spend studying is an hour you cannot spend working.

  2. Water scarcity is pushing farmers in the region to change the crops they grow.

Common collocations

  • the problem of scarcity
  • water scarcity
  • relative scarcity
  • scarcity of resources
  • opportunity costThe value of the best alternative you give up when you make a choice, for example the salary you lose by studying full time instead of working.
  • trade-offA situation in which getting more of one thing means accepting less of another, so you have to balance two goals against each other.
  • shortageA situation in which buyers want more of a product than sellers offer at the current price, often because the price is held below equilibrium.
  • economyThe whole system by which a country or region produces, sells, buys and uses goods and services, including its businesses, workers, money and government.

More terms: Core Concepts

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