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What do these concepts have to do with each other: scarcity, choices, and trade-offs?

A. Scarcity leads to choices, which involve trade-offs.
B. Trade-offs result from scarcity, leading to choices.
C. Choices are irrelevant in the face of scarcity.
D. Trade-offs and scarcity are unrelated concepts.

User Zaggo
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

Scarcity necessitates making choices between different possible uses of limited resources, and each choice involves trade-offs, known as opportunity costs, which is the value of the best alternative forgone. The correct relationship among the concepts of scarcity, choices, and trade-offs is that scarcity leads to choices, which involve trade-offs.

Step-by-step explanation:

The concepts of scarcity, choices, and trade-offs are interrelated and fundamental to economics. Scarcity refers to the limited nature of society's resources, given society's unlimited wants and needs. The existence of scarcity requires individuals and societies to make choices about how to allocate their resources to satisfy as many of those wants and needs as possible. As resources are limited, each choice is accompanied by a trade-off, which is the cost of forgoing the next best alternative when one option is chosen over another. This concept is encapsulated by the term opportunity cost, which represents the value of the best alternative given up.

Therefore, to answer the student's question, the correct relationship among these concepts is: A. Scarcity leads to choices, which involve trade-offs. When individuals or societies face scarcity, they must choose among different possible uses for their limited resources, and each choice will involve a trade-off as they cannot simultaneously satisfy all other alternative wants or needs.

User Niraj Niroula
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