Scarcity is the central economic problem facing all societies. It is the result of the inability to satisfy all of everyone's wants. We can't satisfy all wants because not enough productive resources capital, human, and natural are available to produce all we want. Because resources are scarce, we make choices about how to use them best. Each choice has an opportunity cost , the best alternative given up when making a choice.
Economists often focus on the additional or extra costs or benefits of a choice.
Technically these are called marginal costs and benefits. By focusing on marginal costs and benefits , consumers and producers often give up some of one thing to have more of another. This is a tradeoff . The choices we make as consumers, workers, business owners, and government officials create the economy. The questions below require your response.