'''Scarcity''' is a concept basic to all of [[economics]]: [[Goods]] having alternative uses can be increased only by [[sacrifice|sacrificing]] other [[resource]]s or goods. Put another way, scarcity arises when wants are greater than means. Here is a third way to describe the same concept: everything in limited supply that is useful has a [[price]].
Scarcity occurs when there is not enough of an item or service for everyone to have as much as they want at no cost. Anything that costs money is a scarce good. Anything that is always [[free]], such as [[air]] , is not scarce or is not demanded.
The economic definition of scarcity differs from our everyday definition of the word because anything that costs money is scarce. Although we do not typically think of commons objects, such as [[pencil]]s, as being scarce, economics does include them within the concept of scarcity. This scarcity arises from the fact that most people are not capable of producing high-quality pencils on their own, or finding them in nature, so from an individual's perspective, the supply of pencils is limited to those available to her in the marketplace.
'''Scarcity''' may be defined as a lack of [[faith]], and is a byproduct of [[the Fall]]. In [[Christianity]] there is no true scarcity in the [[Kingdom of Heaven]], and numerous accounts and parables in the [[Gospels]] emphasize the lack of true genuine scarcity:
*the [[multiplication of the loaves]]<ref>Matt 14:13-21.</ref>
*the master's estate in the [[Prodigal Son]]<ref>Luke 15:11-32.</ref>
*an excess of fish found by casting the net on the other side of the boat<ref>John 21:6.</ref>