Final answer:
High-order goods and services are specialized products and experiences that require a larger population to support, often found in larger cities. These include luxury items and services like sports teams and specialized healthcare. Population size is vital for the financial and logistical support of these goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
High-order goods and services refer to products and experiences that are typically more specialized, infrequent, and expensive. These include items such as luxury goods, specialized medical services, and entertainment like major league sports. These goods and services generally require a larger threshold population to support them financially and logistically, which is why they are often found in larger cities or regional service centers.
The size of the population needed for high-order goods and services to be viable varies depending on the specific service or product. As a general principle, these services are supported by larger populations because they can spread the fixed costs over more people and reach the required level of demand. For example, mega-cities like New York and Los Angeles offer exceptionally high-order goods that might not be available in smaller cities due to the lack of sufficient consumer base.
Considering the allocation of goods and services, decisions need to be made about who should receive these products, which is often determined by the market, though it can also be influenced by government policies or societal priorities. The critical questions of what should be produced, how it should be produced, and for whom it should be produced are central to understanding the distribution and productivity of goods and services in an economy. When estimating basic necessities for a family of four, one might consider housing, food, healthcare, education, and transportation as fundamental requirements.