Needs, goods and scarcity

Explain in your own words what an economic need is and how it differs from a simple want. Give two examples of each related to your life as a student.

Needs change over time: ask an older person which things in your daily life did not exist when they were your age (mobile phone, internet, wireless headphones). What does that show about the idea that human needs are unlimited?

A study on household expenditure in Spain shows that families in the lowest income decile allocate, on average, a higher percentage of their budget to mobile telephony and internet connection ($6,8\ \%$) than to footwear and clothing ($4,1\ \%$).

1. a) Based on these data, refute the categorical statement that «secondary needs are merely superfluous inventions created by advertising». Justify how the concept of primary need evolves socially and whether digital connectivity can be considered a basic necessity in a developed economy.
2. b) Analyse the opportunity cost faced by these vulnerable households when prioritising digital spending over other basic consumption, and argue to what extent this choice reflects a sovereign decision or a necessity imposed by the economic structure of the environment.

Classify the following goods as free or economic goods and justify each decision: the air you breathe in the countryside, a sandwich from the cafeteria, sunlight, a cinema ticket, bottled water, and the school's Wi-Fi.

Distinguish between physical goods and services, and classify the following: a haircut, a backpack, a dental check-up, a notebook, and the bus journey to school. Justify each classification.

Water falls free from the sky, and yet tap water is paid for. Explain, using the concepts of free good and economic good, what turns it into an economic good: what work and what infrastructure lie behind the tap.

Explain what it means for a resource to be scarce. Identify three scarce resources in your school (spaces, equipment, someone's time) and describe what decisions each one forces people to make.

Time is also a scarce resource. List everything you would like to do on a Sunday and estimate the hours each activity would take: if the total exceeds the hours in the day, explain what basic economic problem you are facing and how you solve it.

The school cafeteria bakes $200$ sandwiches a day and there are $500$ students who would like to buy one for $2\ \text{€}$.

1. a) Is there a shortage of sandwiches at that price? Justify your answer using the data.
2. b) Propose two different ways of distributing the available sandwiches and explain the criterion used by each.

The school car park has $40$ spaces and $95$ applications have been submitted.

1. a) Is there a shortage of spaces? Justify your answer using the data.
2. b) Compare three criteria for allocating the spaces (charging a price, holding a lottery, awarding them by seniority) and assess what each one gains and loses.

A town council organises a free concert in a square with room for $5.000$ people and $20.000$ sign up.

1. a) Is the concert a free good? Justify your answer.
2. b) What allocation mechanisms can be used when there is not enough room? Name two and comment on their effects.