☰ Contents · Economics

The problem of scarcity

Lessons 2 · 1 lessons · E. Sariqov, B. Khaydarov. Foundations of Economics, Grade 8. “Huquq va Jamiyat” Publishing House, Tashkent, 2019
2

The problem of scarcity

Textbook: pp. 12–15
GoalDistinguishes types of needs, free and economic goods and kinds of resources, and explains with examples the essence of the scarcity problem: needs are unlimited, resources are limited.
New words
need: a lack of something a person requires in order to live and grow · ehtiyojresources: everything that can be used to create goods and services · resurslareconomic goods: goods that people have to create by their economic activity · iqtisodiy ne’matlarscarcity problem: the gap between unlimited needs and limited resources · cheklanganlik muammosi
Explanation

A need is a person's feeling that something required to live and grow is missing. Needs are personal (clothes, hygiene items) or social (a school, public transport – satisfied together), and are also divided into material and spiritual needs. A good satisfies a need: free goods such as air and sunlight are given by nature at no cost, while economic goods are created by human work. Creating goods requires resources, which are natural (land, water, minerals), labour (working-age people) and capital (buildings, machines, equipment, financial funds). People always strive to live better, so needs are unlimited while resources are limited. The mismatch between unlimited needs and limited resources is called the scarcity problem and is considered the main problem of economics.

Worked examples
A notebook is a personal need of a pupil; the school building and library are a social need. Fresh air by a river is a free good, but a system that brings clean drinking water to a tap is an economic good created by human work.
A family's monthly wish list costs 5 800 000 so‘m, while its monthly income is 4 500 000 so‘m. The gap is 5 800 000 – 4 500 000 = 1 300 000 so‘m: a simple form of the scarcity problem.
Class activity

“Map of needs”: in pairs, pupils recall one day's routine (from morning to night), write which need was met at each step, then sort them into personal/social and material/spiritual columns.

Practice
1
Sort into free or economic goods: sunlight, bread, the air we breathe, a book, a doctor's service.
2
Give two examples of each type of resource: natural, labour, capital.
3
A family's wishes cost 7 200 000 so‘m and its income is 5 000 000 so‘m. By how many so‘m does the income fall short of the wishes?
4
After Bobur got a new phone, a month later he wanted a case, headphones and a data plan. What does this example show about needs?