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*Date: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Century 14th century]
: the quality or state of being scarce; especially : want of provisions for the support of life
'''Scarcity''' (also called paucity) is the fundamental [[economic]] problem of having seemingly unlimited human needs and wants, in a world of [[limited]] resources. It states that [[society]] has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs. Alternatively, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be pursued at the same time; [[Compromise|trade-offs]] are made of one [[good]] against others. In an [[influential]] 1932 essay, Lionel Robbins defined economics as "the [[science]] which [[studies]] human [[behavior]] as a [[relationship]] between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses."
[[Category: General Reference]]
[[Category: Economics]]