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 (cell phone, internet, wireless headphones). What does that show about the idea that human needs are unlimited?

A family reviews its monthly expenses: rent, streaming service, food, gym, medicines, and vacations. Classify each expense as a primary or secondary need and explain which ones could be cut with the least cost if their income fell.

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 movie 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 ride 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.

The diagram summarizes the basic economic problem, but one of the boxes is covered with a question mark. State which concept is missing and explain with one sentence what each step of the diagram means.

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.

Alex has $\$100$ a month and his wish list (clothes, video games, going out, saving for a trip) adds up to $\$160$.

1. a) What economic concept does that difference illustrate?
2. b) Propose a method for prioritizing the list and explain what criterion it uses (need versus want, satisfaction per dollars spent).

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

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 parking lot 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.

In the Ria region, irrigation water is paid for with a flat annual fee and the fields waste water; in Vala, it is paid for per liter consumed and water use has fallen by $30\ \%$.

1. a) Explain how the price manages scarcity in each system.
2. b) Analyze the equity problem that charging per liter can create and propose a solution that keeps the saving.