Scarcity is an economic concept that refers to the limited availability of resources in the face of unlimited wants and needs. In other words, it is the gap between the amount of a resource that people want and the amount that is available. Scarcity is a fundamental problem in economics because it requires individuals, businesses, and governments to make choices about how to allocate resources. Here are some examples of scarcity in economics:

• Overuse of land, water, and animals can create a scarcity of the resource.
• Common resources like clean air and a sustainable climate have been increasingly recognized as scarce goods with costs as well as value.
• The relative availability of production inputs or the decrease in the supply of a resource or product relative to demand over time can also be considered scarcity.
• Scarcity of labor inputs can occur when there are more available workers than managers, for example.
• Scarcity of resources like land, water, and oil, as well as intangible resources like time, skills, and attention, is a common occurrence in microeconomics.
• Scarcity of commodities that are in short supply tends to make them more attractive and valuable.
• Scarcity of raw materials can cause increased costs and potentially reduced profits for businesses.

Scarcity is an important concept in economics because it forces people to make choices about how to allocate and use resources.