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Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1 1.Which of the following illustrates the concept of scarcity?

• There is usually more than one use of your "free" time in the evening.
• More clean air is wanted than is available in large polluted metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles.
• There are many competing uses for the annual budget of your city, county, or state.
• All of the answers are correct.

ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

2.When economists say scarcity, they mean:

• there are only a limited number of consumers who would be interested in purchasing goods.
• the human desire for goods exceeds the available supply of time, goods and resources.
• most people in poorer countries do not have enough goods.
• goods are so expensive that only the rich can afford it.

ANSWER: b

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

3.When economists say goods are scarce, they mean:

• consumers are too poor to afford the goods and services available.
• consumers are unwilling to buy goods unless they have very low prices.
• goods are generally freely available from nature in most countries.
• the desire for goods and services exceeds our ability to produce them with the limited resources available.

ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

4.Scarcity is a problem:

• measured by the amount of goods available.
• of the poor, but not the rich.
• because human wants are unlimited while resources are limited.
• only in industrialized economies.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

5.Scarcity can be eliminated if:

• people satisfy needs rather than wants.
• sufficient new resources were discovered.
• output of goods and services were increased.
• none of these.

(Economics for Today 9e Irvin Tucker) (Test Bank, For Complete File, Download the link at the end of this File) 1 / 4

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ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

6. Scarcity is a(n):

• problem only in industrialized economies.
• condition measured by the quantity of goods available.
• subjective concept that human wants can never be satisfied.
• problem only in poor economies.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

7. The condition of scarcity:

• cannot be eliminated.
• prevails in poor economies.
• prevails in rich economies.
• All of these.

ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

8. Scarcity:

• exists because resources are unlimited while human wants are limited.
• means we are unable to have as much as we would like to have.
• will likely be eliminated as technology continues to expand.
• is not an issue addressed in economics.

ANSWER: b

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

• Which of the following would eliminate scarcity as an economic problem?
• Moderation of people's competitive instincts.
• Discovery of sufficiently large new energy reserves.
• Resumption of steady productivity growth.
• None of these.

ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

• The finite nature of the economy's resource base: 2 / 4

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• will be solved if only we would learn to conserve.
• is only a problem in developing countries.
• will be solved as technology advances.
• will always be with us.

ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

11. Human wants:

• are unfilled only in the poorer countries of the world.
• can be completely satisfied by advancing technology.
• can never be fully satisfied.
• only apply to necessities.
• exist only if we are selfish.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

12. Scarcity:

• is a problem only in the poorer countries of the world.
• can be solved by rapid advances in technology.
• is a problem that exists in every economy.
• is not a problem for the very rich.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

13. The perpetual problem in economics is:

• our inability to work together effectively.
• our inability to satisfy everyone's wants with the available resources.
• a recognition of continual class differences.
• our inability to utilize resources efficiently.
• likely to be solved in resource-rich countries.

ANSWER: b

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

• The perpetual state of insufficiency of resources to satisfy people's unlimited wants is:
• apparent only in poor countries.
• completely unrealistic.
• present in modern economies, but not in the past.
• the definition of scarcity. 3 / 4

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ANSWER: d

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

15. People are forced to make choices because of:

• unlimited wants and unlimited resources.
• limited wants and unlimited resources.
• unlimited wants and limited resources.
• limited wants and limited resources.
• irrational wants and limited resources.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

16. Economists believe that scarcity forces everyone to:

• satisfy all their wants.
• abandon consumer sovereignty.
• lie about their wants.
• create unlimited resources.
• make choices.

ANSWER: e

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: The Problem of Scarcity

• Which of the following is the factors of production?
• The outputs generated by the production process of transforming land, labor, and capital into goods

and services.

• The land resources, such as natural resources, that are unimproved by human economic activity.
• Land (natural resources), labor (human capital, entrepreneurship), and capital (constructed inputs

such as factories).

• Labor and capital in industrialized countries, where natural resources are no longer used to produce

goods and services.

ANSWER: c

DIFFICULTY: Easy

NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States - BUSPROG:Analytic:Ref - BUSPROG: Analytic

TOPICS: Scarce Resources and Production

• Which of the following is true of resources?
• Resources are inputs used to produce goods and services.
• Labor is the mental and physical capacity of workers to produce goods and services.
• Entrepreneurship organizes resources to produce goods and services.
• All of these are true.

ANSWER: d

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