Economic Scarcity

It is hard to find the meaning of scarcity in the economic thought for what the word signifies. It’s many synonymous as lack, or depletion, or absence, or exhaustion, or non- existence and so on, doesn’t seem represent scarcity singularly among distinct economic ideas. Although scarcity and its synonymous generally refer to the nonexistence of something once existent, there appears to be a major distinction between the expressions: what is limited from what you don’t own. For understanding scarcity in economic ideas it seems important then to distinguish between natural or human-Nature relation – as for the absolute idea – and social or human-human relation – as for the relative idea of scarcity. The establishment of scarcity in this sense becomes distinguished in an ontological manner since in human-Nature relations the problem is identifying low quantities or the nonexistence of something affluent or pre-existent before in Nature; and in human-human relations, although affluence and existence are identified, the access to something is restricted because of social constraints (property relations, government, income, social class, etc.). The objective of this paper, is to present an argument that tries to clarify the term scarcity in economic ideas, as it can be seen in some definitions of the discipline and in the attempts of representing scarcity analytically. As scarcity is reproduced in distinct ways, this discussion will provide a political economy of the term in a restricted way. We will depart from two principles: i) scarcity is viewed in economic ideas by how economics is defined as considering its distinct theories, approaches and worldviews (or ontologies); then ii) the political economy of scarcity depends on the idea that scarcity became a more logical and concrete concept although it is fundamentally an abstraction. This idea can be confirmed on what we call political economy, and in this case we will consider John Stuart Mill’s argument in “On the Definition of Political Economy and the Method of Investigation Proper to It”, since he establishes the basis for scientific inquiry in a specific way that can represent scarcity in Economics nowadays.

The problem of scarcity resources is one of the most important topics in economics, even one reason for the emergence of economics itself. Al Qur'an as a source of economic science in Islam, of course, also talks about the Resources. The study finds that the concept of economic resources related to scarcity in al Qur'an different from what is understood by economic mainstream, and that is the foundation for the Muslim economists to build the consumer behavior theory in Islam.

2006

2023

Scarcity theory is one of the basic concepts in modern economic theory. The idea of scarcity is related to the fact that the resources available to us are limited, while human needs and desires are unlimited, hence the economic problem. An economic system distributes limited resources among the growing needs of society. However, the Islamic view may have a different view on the concept of scarcity and how to deal with it from a religious and ethical perspective.

This paper deals with the economic concept of scarcity and how it will be affected by the industrial revolution.

Though scarcity is more than just limits, it always has to be understood against the backdrop of growing consumption and diminishing resources. The graph here shows that if the entire population of the planet were to consume at the rate of the average US citizen, then we would need 5.3 planets. If they were to consume at the rate of the average UK citizen, we would need 3.1 planets, and so on.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012

The elevation of scarcity to the fundamental economic problem rests on some unstated normative assumptions. These include a political commitment to private property, a methodological commitment to not inquire about taste formation, and the idea that human welfare is roughly equivalent to preference satisfaction.

The concept of scarcity is central to economics, not only as the most fundamental problem of economics, but also as the very cause of other thinkable or observable problem of which economics has concern. Nevertheless, it has gone on measureless and unquantified. Whatever the reasons for this might be, the more pressing need, to unravel it beyond merely identifying it as a concept, has to be satisfied-this, because time is scarce and we must make the best use of it. The fact that scarcity can be measured is intrinsic in the purely objective statement that a commodity is scarcer than another is. This paper discusses the nature of scarcity, exploring the various conditions that bring it about. These conditions are then put together to conceive a quantification means of scarcity, not only theoretically, but also realistically to economies.

Forum for Social Economics, 1982

Natural resource scarcity has been making a resurgence as a dominant theme in recent economic writings. Most of the papers on this subject, however, have been narrow in their scope-discussing the issue mainly from a specific viewpoint or ideological stand. This paper attempts to give a balanced treatment to three economic positions (the traditionalist, the revisionist, and the unorthodox economist) taken toward natural resource scarcity. As such, the main objective of the paper is to present and analyze the basic arguments that have been advanced by the proponents of these three positions. It is the author's intent that this approach will help clarify the main factors that have been the source of disagreements among economists over the probable causes and ramifications of societal problems emanating from scarcity and in so doing provide a c]earer perspective for prudent action. I.

ibtra.com

While the wrong Western diagnosis that lack of wealth is the source of 'scarcity'leads them to pursue the wrong remedies, the Quran offers us the correct solution to the problem. Instead of striving for more wealth, the Quran teaches us to restrict our idle desires, strive to lead simple lifestyles, and to spend on others less fortunate than us. It also teaches us to be content with what we have, and not envy those who have more material wealth. We should also have compassion for others, and not seek to make them envious ...