The basic economic problem

a need is necessary for survival but a want is something that is not needed for survival.

resources are used to produce goods and services to satisfy these needs and wants. 

finite resources mean that there is a limited amount available in the world and they will eventually be used up. Examples include: oil, coal, and uranium

renewable resources mean that they can be replaced. examples include timber, fish, grain, and meat.

the economic problem is that there are limited resources and unlimited wants, which leads to a problem of scarcity.

scarcity means there is a lack of resources available to produce all the goods and services to satisfy these unlimited wants.

there is always something else that people would like and so people are never satisfied.

goods that are produced and sold at a price are called economic goods. A price is charged for these goods because they are scarce relative to demand.

resources that are supplied at zero cost because there are more than enough available to satisfy the demand for them

land, labor, capital, enterprise

anything natural that is used to produce goods and services

human resources used to produce goods and services. The payment of wages rewards the work carried out as part of the production process

manufactured resources used to produce goods and services. The payment made for borrowing money to buy capital is called interest.

brings together all the other factors so that the production of goods and services can take place. Enterprise is carried out by the entrepreneur and the reward gained by the entrepreneur is profit.

how easy or difficult it is for factors of production to be transferred to alternative industries

the next best alternative foregone when making an economic decision

shows the maximum possible output for two goods or services with a given amount of resources