Christmas Economics

One definition of economics is that it is the study of choices under scarcity.  (Remember scarcity is what happens when you don't have enough of a good or service to satisfy all the the needs or wants of the consumers at the same time.)  When something is scarce, consumers and producers have to make choices.

At Christmas time, sometimes toys are scarce (like a new DS game), so people have to make choices about them. 





Consumers (shoppers and children and maybe even Santa!) have to decide what they will do.  Will they pay more for the toy?  Will they decide it is a want that they don't have to fufill.  Producers (like the toy company and maybe even Santa!) have to decide what they will do.  Will they raise the price?  Will they make more of the toy?  Will they let their consumers get frustrated because they still want the toy?

When you study the answers to questions like that, you're studying economics (and business too, but that's another story.

Love you with the scarcity of the time that I get to spend with you,
Dad