Scarcity - more claim to resources than are readily available; our needs & wants + availability
Does not mean limits!
Economics is a study of scarcity. In essence, the definition of the term in question is that there's not enough stuff to go around. This provokes people to make choices. Therefore, economics is the study of how people make choices in the presence of scarcity. After all, economics is a social science.
Interestingly, poverty is the natural state of man. Prosperity requires explanation. When we react to scarcity, we make comparisons. We juxtapose expected benefits and expected costs, and make a decision when the former outweighs the latter. All values and costs are subjective, and they're not always monetary!
The textbook definition of economics: the study of the allocation of scarce resources for competing uses.
The "truer" definition of economics: the study of the emergence of order and wealth creation, and the consequences of the choices made as part of the extended order of human population.
Think about what we mean when we say, "the emergence of an extended order" (Might it have something to do with I, Pencil?)
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