Discussion: Scarcity and Opportunity Costs

8/22/2020 Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices: Economics CC 2 Sec ON1 (22315) Fall 2020

https://clpccd.instructure.com/courses/21227/pages/ch-2-1-scarcity-tradeoff-and-choices?module_item_id=1241317 1/5

Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices

Scarcity,

Choices, and Trade-offs

1. All economic questions arise because we want more than we can get. Our inability to satisfy all our wants is called scarcity.

Scarcity means that there is not enough of an item to satisfy everyone who wants it. A fundamental question in Economic is concerned with how we allocate our scarce resources.

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Scarcity, Choices and Trade-offs

8/22/2020 Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices: Economics CC 2 Sec ON1 (22315) Fall 2020

https://clpccd.instructure.com/courses/21227/pages/ch-2-1-scarcity-tradeoff-and-choices?module_item_id=1241317 3/5

For example, given each consumer’s limited income, a decision to buy a new car usually means giving up some travel or postponing furniture purchases.

In 1968, the Rolling Stones recorded “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Economists chuckled, because they had been singing a similar tune for decades.

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Lecture: Scarcity, Choices and Trade-offs

8/22/2020 Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices: Economics CC 2 Sec ON1 (22315) Fall 2020

https://clpccd.instructure.com/courses/21227/pages/ch-2-1-scarcity-tradeoff-and-choices?module_item_id=1241317 2/5

Because we face scarcity, we must make choices. Whatever choice you make, you could have chosen something else. The scarcity of resources turns every decision into a trade-off.

A trade-off is the giving up of one good or activity in order to obtain some other good or activity.

People Face TradeoffsPeople Face Tradeoffs

8/22/2020 Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices: Economics CC 2 Sec ON1 (22315) Fall 2020

https://clpccd.instructure.com/courses/21227/pages/ch-2-1-scarcity-tradeoff-and-choices?module_item_id=1241317 5/5

The Tradeoff Between Fun and Wages: No Such Thing as a Free LunchThe Tradeoff Between Fun and Wages: No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

8/22/2020 Ch. 2_1 Scarcity, Tradeoff, and Choices: Economics CC 2 Sec ON1 (22315) Fall 2020

https://clpccd.instructure.com/courses/21227/pages/ch-2-1-scarcity-tradeoff-and-choices?module_item_id=1241317 4/5

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"There ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch!"

--The Trade-off between Fun and Wages

If you had to choose, would you rather be a sewer inspector spending your days underground or a lifeguard on the beach? Most would say that being a lifeguard is a more fun job, but a sewer inspector has higher wages to compensate for the less-fun aspects of the job. In this video, we discuss the trade-off between fun and wages and show how this illustrates that “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!”.

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