Question

Discuss the following statement: "If society decides to use its resources fully and efficiently (that is to produce on the PPF), then future generations will be worse off because they will not be able to use these resources." If this assertion is true, full employment of resources may not be a good thing. Comment on the validity of this assertion.

Answer 1

Answer: The efficient use of resources will be useful to the society at large and the future generations in particular because in this generation resources are limited while human want are numerous

Step-by-step explanation:

Production possibility frontier (PPF) is the points showing the various combination of goods which can be produced with respect to the resources available for the production of such goods in addition to the technique of production available for used in the production of such goods at that particular period of time. In economics, human wants are said to be numerous, while resources to satisfy them are said to be limited. This explains the concept of scarcity of resources, the use of resources efficiently by producing on the production possibility frontier, doing so will be useful to the society at large and the future generations in particular. In the sense that, in this generation we are made to understand that resources are limited while the human wants are numerous.

Answer 2

The validity of this assertion depends on the usage of these resources.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer to this question lies on how the available resources are spent. In a situation where resources are spent on the production of goods that have short lifespan of about 3 years with little or no capital production, it becomes a problem for future generations.

On the other hand, if a society uses the resources it has for the production of capital goods and for the sake of research purposes, future generations would benefit and be better off because economic growth would be faster.