Scarcity
noun
The state of being scarce or in short supply.
During the war, there was a scarcity of food supplies.
Often appears as...
- scarcity of resources
- scarcity of food
noun
In economics, the basic economic problem that arises because people have unlimited wants but resources are limited.
Scarcity is the main driver of economic activities.
Often appears as...
- scarcity in economics
- scarcity and choice
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The state of being scarce or in short supply.
During the war, there was a scarcity of food supplies.
Often appears as...
- scarcity of resources
- scarcity of food
noun
In economics, the basic economic problem that arises because people have unlimited wants but resources are limited.
Scarcity is the main driver of economic activities.
Often appears as...
- scarcity in economics
- scarcity and choice
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Common Contexts
Scarcity often relates to essential items like food, water, and shelter, especially in crises.
After the earthquake, there was an acute scarcity of shelter for the homeless.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Weight
Using 'scarcity' can evoke a sense of urgency or concern, suggesting a critical shortage.
The scarcity of medicine in the region has become a pressing issue.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Negative
Sometimes scarcity can refer to the rarity of positive attributes, like beauty or talent.
There's a scarcity of such talent in today's music industry.
Pro Tip 1/3Common Contexts
Scarcity often relates to essential items like food, water, and shelter, especially in crises.
After the earthquake, there was an acute scarcity of shelter for the homeless.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Weight
Using 'scarcity' can evoke a sense of urgency or concern, suggesting a critical shortage.
The scarcity of medicine in the region has become a pressing issue.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Negative
Sometimes scarcity can refer to the rarity of positive attributes, like beauty or talent.
There's a scarcity of such talent in today's music industry.
Pro Tip 1/3Common Contexts
Scarcity often relates to essential items like food, water, and shelter, especially in crises.
After the earthquake, there was an acute scarcity of shelter for the homeless.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Weight
Using 'scarcity' can evoke a sense of urgency or concern, suggesting a critical shortage.
The scarcity of medicine in the region has become a pressing issue.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Always Negative
Sometimes scarcity can refer to the rarity of positive attributes, like beauty or talent.
There's a scarcity of such talent in today's music industry.
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Video examples
Food Security in an...
say what are the key issues and agricultural inputs are one of the key issues facing all of us the scarcity of that and the impact that using it in a button with over-indulgence the impact that's having on climate change and then the impact that's having the opportunity made a number all made a number of
Video examples
It's OK to feel...
Advertising and the whole capitalist model has taught us scarcity, it's taught us that you have to be surrounded by abundance in order to safe. The disconnect between those who have and those who have not has never been bigger, and never in my lifetime, and probably in any of our lifetimes,
Video examples
Michael Pawlyn: Using...
and that raises the question of whether we can intervene at the boundary conditions to halt, or maybe even reverse, desertification. And if you look at some of the organisms that have evolved to live in deserts, there are some amazing examples of adaptations to water scarcity.
Video examples
The legend of Annapurna,...
But upon His latest rebuke, she knew she had to prove the importance of her work once and for all. She took flight from the world, withdrawing her half of the cosmic energy that kept the Earth turning. At her disappearance, a sudden, terrifying and all-encompassing scarcity
Video examples
Elon Musk: A future...
that can't profitably be made now but could be made in that world, courtesy of legions of robots. Yeah. It will be a world of abundance. The only scarcity that will exist in the future is that which we decide to create ourselves as humans.
Video examples
Hydrogels as an...
the world faces a food crisis look a growing population means more mouths to feed climate change is causing massive droughts and it's expected to get much worse topsoil erosion makes it harder to grow food and food scarcity leads to
Video examples
Want to be happy? Be...
If you're grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody,
Video examples
Abundance is our future...
it's about creating a life of possibility. It is about taking that which was scarce and making it abundant. You see, scarcity is contextual, and technology is a resource-liberating force.
Video examples
The Case for a 4-Day...
we'll have made the transition from scarcity thinking to appreciating the true wealth that we possess. Our ingenuity, our compassion and our humanity. Thank you.
Video examples
Michael Porter: Why...
We've got to confront that reality. And the scarcity of resources for dealing with these problems is only growing, certainly in the advanced world today,
Video examples
Food Security in an...
say what are the key issues and agricultural inputs are one of the key issues facing all of us the scarcity of that and the impact that using it in a button with over-indulgence the impact that's having on climate change and then the impact that's having the opportunity made a number all made a number of
Video examples
It's OK to feel...
Advertising and the whole capitalist model has taught us scarcity, it's taught us that you have to be surrounded by abundance in order to safe. The disconnect between those who have and those who have not has never been bigger, and never in my lifetime, and probably in any of our lifetimes,
Video examples
Michael Pawlyn: Using...
and that raises the question of whether we can intervene at the boundary conditions to halt, or maybe even reverse, desertification. And if you look at some of the organisms that have evolved to live in deserts, there are some amazing examples of adaptations to water scarcity.
Video examples
The legend of Annapurna,...
But upon His latest rebuke, she knew she had to prove the importance of her work once and for all. She took flight from the world, withdrawing her half of the cosmic energy that kept the Earth turning. At her disappearance, a sudden, terrifying and all-encompassing scarcity
Video examples
Elon Musk: A future...
that can't profitably be made now but could be made in that world, courtesy of legions of robots. Yeah. It will be a world of abundance. The only scarcity that will exist in the future is that which we decide to create ourselves as humans.
Video examples
Hydrogels as an...
the world faces a food crisis look a growing population means more mouths to feed climate change is causing massive droughts and it's expected to get much worse topsoil erosion makes it harder to grow food and food scarcity leads to
Video examples
Want to be happy? Be...
If you're grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody,
Video examples
Abundance is our future...
it's about creating a life of possibility. It is about taking that which was scarce and making it abundant. You see, scarcity is contextual, and technology is a resource-liberating force.
Video examples
The Case for a 4-Day...
we'll have made the transition from scarcity thinking to appreciating the true wealth that we possess. Our ingenuity, our compassion and our humanity. Thank you.
Video examples
Michael Porter: Why...
We've got to confront that reality. And the scarcity of resources for dealing with these problems is only growing, certainly in the advanced world today,
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Kurt Bills
American Politician
Since scarcity is the basic economic problem, if it does not exist then there is no reason for my economics course. Devoting time to the study of how people use limited resources to fulfill unlimited wants and needs should help us to discover how to best utilize the resources we have at our disposal.
Quote examples
Sendhil Mullainathan
American Economist
If you have urgent current expenses to cover, then future priorities like college and retirement fall off your radar because they are simply less pressing. Scarcity of attention prevents us from seeing what's really important. The psychology of scarcity engrosses us in only our present needs.
Quote examples
Kenichi Fukui
Japanese Scientist
Chemistry itself knows altogether too well that - given the real fear that the scarcity of global resources and energy might threaten the unity of mankind - chemistry is in a position to make a contribution towards securing a true peace on earth.
Quote examples
Joe Lonsdale
American Businessman
Engineering is the art of managing scarcity - it's easy to design and build a massive bridge that will last forever if cost is not an issue. Similarly, to build a new company, you must manage scarce resources.
Quote examples
John Berger
English Artist
The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.
Quote examples
Ryan Bethencourt
American Scientist
Biology, it's the technology which builds our world, and we can harness it to shift humanity from a scarcity to an abundance economy.
Quote examples
Angela Merkel
German Statesman
This inclination to hoard is deeply ingrained in me because in the past, in times of scarcity, you took what you could get.
Quote examples
Maya Angelou
American Poet
Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.
Quote examples
Samuel Johnson
English Writer
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.
Quote examples
Thomas Fuller
English Clergyman
There is a scarcity of friendship, but not of friends.
Quote examples
Kurt Bills
American Politician
Since scarcity is the basic economic problem, if it does not exist then there is no reason for my economics course. Devoting time to the study of how people use limited resources to fulfill unlimited wants and needs should help us to discover how to best utilize the resources we have at our disposal.
Quote examples
Sendhil Mullainathan
American Economist
If you have urgent current expenses to cover, then future priorities like college and retirement fall off your radar because they are simply less pressing. Scarcity of attention prevents us from seeing what's really important. The psychology of scarcity engrosses us in only our present needs.
Quote examples
Kenichi Fukui
Japanese Scientist
Chemistry itself knows altogether too well that - given the real fear that the scarcity of global resources and energy might threaten the unity of mankind - chemistry is in a position to make a contribution towards securing a true peace on earth.
Quote examples
Joe Lonsdale
American Businessman
Engineering is the art of managing scarcity - it's easy to design and build a massive bridge that will last forever if cost is not an issue. Similarly, to build a new company, you must manage scarce resources.
Quote examples
John Berger
English Artist
The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich.
Quote examples
Ryan Bethencourt
American Scientist
Biology, it's the technology which builds our world, and we can harness it to shift humanity from a scarcity to an abundance economy.
Quote examples
Angela Merkel
German Statesman
This inclination to hoard is deeply ingrained in me because in the past, in times of scarcity, you took what you could get.
Quote examples
Maya Angelou
American Poet
Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise.
Quote examples
Samuel Johnson
English Writer
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.
Quote examples
Thomas Fuller
English Clergyman
There is a scarcity of friendship, but not of friends.
Example 1 of 10
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