Scarcity

The meaning of scarcity can be defined in economic and social contexts and in the light of how such meaning fits into the topic of poverty and poverty alleviation. There are contrary views on the idea of scarcity. When resources remain scarce there is bound to be competition for such limited resources to be allocated across competing ends. Consequently, it is assumed that there will always be much less that can be allocated in any one of the competing ends while spending more on the other ones. Economics refers to this idea of the differential in the allocation of resources in a competing alternative while reducing the allocation to other alternatives as the “opportunity cost” [Page 1371]of a sacrificed allocation between competing ends. This same ...