We explain what scarcity is, its meaning in economics and biology. Also, the types that exist and what is the shortage of water.
What is scarcity?
Scarcity is the "littleness" or "dwindling" of something, that is, a condition totally contrary to abundance. Thus, that which is scarce or that suffers from scarcity will always be little, poor, lacking or minimal.
The words scarce and scarcity come from the Latin word excarpsus, translatable as "select" or "rare", and formed in turn by the prefix former- ("Outward") and the verb carpere ("Select" or "collect", especially with regard to a fruit). Thus, the term is linked from its very beginnings with the lack of availability of a resource in its respective context.
That is why it is common to speak of scarcity, nowadays, when for various reasons (economic, climatic, political, etc.) the supplies of goods available for the economy fail. society. This can be experienced as a traumatic experience, especially when it affects fundamental areas of daily life, such as the feeding.
Shortage in economy
The scarcity principle, one of the basic precepts of economic thought, is often spoken of. This principle dictates that, as human needs are infinite, the goods that are capable of satisfying them become scarce goods. Therefore, it is impossible to satisfy absolutely all human needs and we must choose which ones to prioritize and which ones, simply, to leave unsatisfied.
To face this dilemma, precisely, the economic Sciences, in search of the methods ideal for managing a society's resources to prevent the catastrophic consequences of sudden and prolonged shortages. The purpose of the economy it is to ensure that the fundamental goods are those that suffer the shortest periods of scarcity. For this, the production cycles must be as continuous as possible.
The notion of scarcity is fundamental in the economy, since the availability of goods and resources dictates, among other things, the price of goods. products. Thus, in principle, the more scarce a good or service is, the more expensive it will be to acquire, due to the laws of the offer and the demand. On the other hand, the more abundant the goods, the cheaper they will be.
Types of shortages
In economics, a distinction is made between two fundamental types of scarcity: absolute scarcity and relative scarcity.
- Absolute scarcity refers to an irreplaceable resource, that is, it has no replacements in the market, and whose existence, therefore, is limited in any sense. Such is the case, for example, of the natural resources Non-renewable, whose reserves will eventually run out forever.
- Relative scarcity refers to the opportunity cost of a good or a replaceable service within the market, that is, when the availability of a good is judged in contrast to that of another equivalent, or with the amount of needs to be satisfied. This is what happens when, for example, we compare the type or quality of goods that a company buys family rich (abundant) and a poor family (scarce). Therefore, if we incorporate an even more affluent family, the goods bought by the first rich family will now be scarce in comparison.
- It is also often spoken of artificial scarcity to refer to the one that is intentionally generated by a market actor, such as a store that hoards merchandise to generate an increase in demand and then be able to raise prices. The consumersFaced with the prospect of running out of goods, they will then prefer to pay the new price.
Scarcity in biology
Species at risk of extinction are protected by international organizations.
In the field of biology, the meaning of the term scarcity is slightly different: it has to do with the low presence of a species within their ecosystems natural. Rare species therefore tend to be at risk of extinction, since being rarer than the others, they compete at a disadvantage for resources and have fewer chances of reproducing.
This is what happens to species at risk of extinction, that is, to vulnerable species. They must be protected by international organizations that promote not only their defense against poachers and other forms of exploitation, but also their controlled reproduction and subsequent release, to increase the number of individuals of the species that can be found in the world.
Lack of water
One of the great ecological concerns of the 21st century is the growing scarcity of drinking water. This is due not only to the immense margins of use of the Water for its agricultural, industrial and urban consumption, but also to the continuous pollution of seas, lakes and even of the atmosphere, which introduces harmful elements to the hydrological cycle.
Also contributing to its scarcity is the constant climate change, fruit of global warming, among whose most dramatic consequences is desertification and the growth of wastelands.
For decades now, there has been a warning regarding this coming ecological problem, without real progress being made on a global scale. The reuse and resanitization of sewage water, as well as desalination of sea water, are formulas that are gaining ground very slowly in the face of the gigantic consumption of water by the humanity.
Meanwhile, populations Entire areas of the underdeveloped world suffer from the lack of water and the political and economic consequences that this implies, such as the impossibility of agricultural development and hygiene population. At the beginning of the 21st century, around 2.8 billion persons in the five continents suffer from this problem for at least one month of the year, and more than 1.3 billion people completely lack access to safe water.