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
