What is the difference between scarcity and rarity

Scarcity is also referred to as "paucity. In a hypothetical world in which every resource—water, hand soap, expert translations of Hittite inscriptions, enriched uranium, organic bok choy, bourbon—is abundant, economists would have nothing to study.

There would be no need to make decisions about how to allocate resources, and no tradeoffs to explore and quantify. In the real world, on the other hand, everything costs something; in other words, every resource is to some degree scarce. Money and time are quintessentially scarce resources. Most people have too little of one, the other, or both. An unemployed person may have an abundance of time, but find it hard to pay rent—a scarcity of money.

A hotshot executive, on the other hand, may be financially capable of retiring on a whim, yet be forced to eat ten-minute lunches and sleep four hours a night: They have plenty of funds, but a shortage of time. A third category has little time or money. People with abundant money and abundant time are seldom observed in the wild.

Natural resources can fall outside the realm of scarcity for two reasons. Anything available in practically infinity supply that can be consumed at zero cost or trade-off of other goods is not scarce.

Alternatively, if consumers are indifferent to a resource and do not have any desire to consume it, or are unaware of it or its potential use entirely, then it is not scarce even if the total amount in existence is clearly limited. However, even resources take for granted as infinitely abundant, and which are free in dollar terms, can become scarce in some sense. Take air, for example. From an individual's perspective, breathing is completely free. Yet there are a number of costs associated with the activity.

It requires breathable air, which has become increasingly difficult to take for granted since the Industrial Revolution. In a number of cities today, poor air quality has been associated with high rates of disease and death.

In order to avoid these costly affairs and assure that citizens can breathe safely, governments or utilities must invest in methods of power generation that do not create harmful emissions. These may be more expensive than dirtier methods, but even if they are not, they require massive capital expenditures. These costs fall on the citizens in one way or another.

Breathing freely, in other words, is not free. If a government decides to allocate resources to make the air clean enough to breathe, a number of questions arise. What methods exist to improve air quality? Which are the most effective in the short-term, medium-term, and long-term? What about cost-effectiveness?

What should be the balance between quality and cost? What tradeoffs come with various courses of action? Where should the money come from? Should the government raise taxes, and if so, on what and for whom? Will the government borrow? Will it print money? How will the government keep track of its costs, debts, and the benefits that accrue from the project i. Pretty soon, the scarcity of clean air the fact that clean air has a non- zero cost brings up a vast array of questions about how to efficiently allocate resources.

Scarcity is the basic problem that gives rise to economics. The primary causes of economic scarcity are demand-induced, supply-induced, and structural. New Word List Word List. Save This Word! See synonyms for scarcity on Thesaurus. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

See scarce , -ity. Words nearby scarcity scarce , scarce as hen's teeth , scarcely , scarcely ever , scarcement , scarcity , scare , scarecrow , scaredy-cat , scarehead , scaremonger. Words related to scarcity dearth , drought , famine , inadequacy , insufficiency , lack , paucity , shortage , exiguity , infrequency , rareness , rarity , scantiness , sparsity , stringency , uncommonness , want.

How to use scarcity in a sentence Over the past decade, a scarcity of risk capital has meant that funding for new explorations has been low. King Robert the Bruce A. Scarcity is about demand; rarity only about frequency. Always check a dictionary first. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Rare is used for something valuable, but something that is not in demand or is not necessity of people.

According to Google : " of a thing not found in large numbers and so of interest or value. Scarce is used for something that is needed by people, is in high demand.

As Google describes it: " especially of food, money, or some other resource insufficient for the demand. Improve this answer. Bella Swan Bella Swan 2 2 silver badges 10 10 bronze badges. Diamonds are not actually rare, but a scarcity is produced by the industry to increase the price! Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown.

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