Scarcity

Scarcity is a condition in which available resources cannot satisfy every possible use or want. It makes choices among competing uses unavoidable.

Opportunity cost: The value of the best alternative forgone when a choice is made. Choosing one scarce resource use means giving up its next-best alternative.
Economics: The study of how people and societies allocate resources and make choices under constraints. Scarcity is the central constraint that gives economic choice its structure.
Water scarcity: A condition in which water availability is insufficient to meet human and ecological needs. It shows how a vital resource can be scarce across regions and seasons.
Abundance: A condition in which resources or goods are plentiful relative to relevant needs or uses. It marks the opposite condition, though abundance in one resource can coexist with scarcity in another.
Income inequality: The uneven distribution of income across individuals or households in a population. Unequal purchasing power changes who can secure scarce goods through markets.
Supply and demand: A model of how buyers and sellers jointly determine prices and quantities in a market. Market prices respond to scarcity by coordinating what buyers seek with what sellers offer.
Resources: Inputs used to produce goods and services or to meet human needs and wants. Scarcity concerns the limits on resources available for competing uses.
Labor shortage: A labor-market condition in which employers seek more workers than are available at prevailing wages and conditions. It is a specific market imbalance, distinct from scarcity as a general economic condition.
Surplus: An amount of a good or resource exceeding demand or required use in a specified setting. A local surplus does not eliminate scarcity across other goods, places, or uses.
Tragedy of the commons: The overuse of a shared resource when individuals pursue private benefits without coordinating their use. Scarce shared resources can be depleted when users lack effective collective rules.

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