Scarcity is what creates the need for economics. How dare scarcity do such a thing! I mean, really. Think of things that are scarce. Diamonds. Vintage Prada. Shoes in your size. Jeans that fit perfectly. Of course, there is much more that is scare, but I'm working the "shallow blonde" angle right now.
If scarcity did not exist, then we would have everything we ever wanted all of the time. Where's the fun in that? Remember the movie The Incredibles? The nutty villain, Syndrome? He hit the nail on the head when dealing with scarcity when he said "Everyone can be super! And when every one's super, no one will be." Think about it. Syndrome has a point. If everyone had a vintage Prada handbag, would you feel special carrying yours?
Luckily, scarcity exists. It feels odd to say that, doesn't it? Since we have to deal with scarcity, and subsequently, economics, how do we make the most of it? We don't have enough time or resources to have everything we want, so we have to decide. We make a trade-off. We make the decision that we believe is best for our current situation at that particular time. We want to maximize our happiness. It IS all about us. :-) Seriously. The majority of economists operate on the belief that we are motivated JUST by our desire to be happy. Think about it, people sit around and study our shopping habits to decide if the items we buy make us happy. Naturally, EVERYTHING we spend money on makes us happy. I did back flips over that bonus size pack of Charmin double rolls I bought last week. The money I just spent on new brakes had me skipping out of the mechanic's garage. Are you picking up on the sarcasm? Of course, the ability to meet basic needs also makes me happy. The ability to stop my car is a necessity, but not dying makes me happy. These economists just may be right.
So, how do they know we base our choices on what will make us happy? Let's think about. We have a $400 gift card to Coach. You don't want to spend any of your own money, so your purchase has to be within that $400 limit and we are going to pretend we don't need to worry about sales tax. How do you spend it? What do you choose? Clearly, not the top of the line, but do you choose a wallet and a belt? A small handbag? How do you decide? You choose what makes you happy. This is also the basic for the study of consumer choices - and our next topic (maybe).
