SCARCITY

Scarcity and its opposite, abundance, are relative and vague descriptions as to the availability of useful resources for human purposes. Resources that command a price in economic transactions, like fertile land, machines, or human talent, may be considered scarce. This market oriented definition of scarcity can be summed up in the following way: scarcity exists in a marketplace when a resource of any type commands a price in the market which make some producers forgo otherwise rewarding applications of the resource. The price of a resource in unrestricted economic transactions is a useful way to measure the scarcity of the resource. The more scarce a resource, the higher its price will tend to be. At times, when there is a limit to the availability of a resource, the resource will obviously be regarded as scarce in the marketplace. This scarcity will tend to drive prices up, or will cause the market to look elsewhere for more plentiful and less costly alternatives. Questions are always raised as to how human societies will respond to the depletion of resources, and how society will respond during times of acute general scarcity to avoid catastrophic suffering and mortality. Historically, scarcity has frequently caused changes in lifestyle, land migration, consumption-patterns, increased exploration for new material, development of general ecological awareness, and ecologically-oriented technology, so as to minimize the scarcity of resources needed for subsistence.