UNIT 17 Scarcity, Choice and Circular Flow of Income
The JC Business Times
Your grandparents can probably remember the oil crisis in the 1970s, when there was an oil shortage. Oil was scarce. People wanted to buy oil, however only a limited amount was available. Oil was demanded by individuals to heat homes and run cars and by businesses to run factories.
Questions 1. What product was scarce?
2. What impact would a lack of this product have on the world? 3. Do you think oil is a need or want? Why? 4. What choices might you make if there was an oil crisis today?
NO OIL!
Before We Begin …
When studying the household budget, we distinguished between our needs and wants. We also know that our income is limited. We have to make choices between buying products and services that we need and want. The study of these monetary choices and how we use our income is called economics.
Whilst parts of economics can be explained through formulae, graphs and statistics, the important principles are all about human behaviour (social science). This means studying how humans behave. Economic principles assume rational behaviour; however, humans may not always act rationally.
1 Economics
Economics is a social science which studies how individuals, organisations and the government have limited resources and have to make choices in order to satisfy their needs and wants.
Economists (people who study economics) assume that individuals act in a rational way when making choices.