ECONOMICS

ECONOMICS

COMMON SENSE
VOL -2
Ezee
Skills
Pezee
for
SMART KIDS
i
A Practical Guide

Scarce as a Hen’s Teeth
Chapter 1
Scarce as a Hen’s Teeth
One word that comes out very often on every news channel or newspaper
is ‘scarcity’. Of course who would better know scarcity than me, my pockets
are always empty. Every month I make a determination to save, and I end up
spending everything in the middle of the month and then I reel under scarcity.
Well doesn’t matter! Almost all of my friends undergo the same
situation. I am not alone.
We are 7 billion people on Earth. It will
increase by 5 babies every second.
Think of the needs and wants of
these 7 billion people. There
are animals too who share
our ecosystem and we are
not even counting them. Do
you know what percentage
of Earth’s water can be used
for drinking? Just Imagine.
One day there will
be no drinking water, no
land to accommodate us,
no fuel to drive our car! All
scarce resources will end one
day. What will happen after
that? I am sure you know that
scarce resources are big economic
problem?
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Scarce as a Hen’s Teeth
Scarce Resource
Scarce resources are the natural resources available on Earth in limited quantity
like water, fuel coal and minerals etc. Human beings are greedy. It will end
some day with the endless needs and wants of billions of people on the Earth.
Look at this scenario to understand it better.
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Scarce as a Hen’s Teeth
The Sun was burning and there were no buildings, greenery, and water
at the Sahara desert. The Waxman could see no lives till the other end of the
desert. Now, the water that Waxman bartered with the Arabian man was his
precious possession. There were no shops in that desert from where he could
buy water and there were no ponds or water wells from where he could drink it.
All he could see was sand dunes and nothing else. By now, he had understood
the importance of water as it was scarce in desert.
Holding the water bottle in hand, Waxman kept walking in a hope to see
people. His face was red due to excessive heat and hot desert wind. He kept
drinking water to keep himself hydrated. He was unable to satisfy his thirst
with that amount of water.
After walking for hours continuously, Waxman was deadly tired. There was
no single drop of water left in his bottle. All his energy was drained out. The
superhero had lost all his strength. He could not walk anymore. He feared that
he would die in this unknown land until he heard someone calling a name.
He got alert and wanted to assure what he heard. Then, he could hear
more noises. With a hope, he followed the sound and saw a group of
people.
‘Oh! Finally they are there’ thought Waxman
and ran towards a man who had a big jar of
water.
“Water water... I need some water” said
Waxman breathing heavily.
“$15 for a litre of water” replied the seller.
“What?” Waxman said. $15 was like a bolt
from the blue. He stood there unbelievingly
and fainted.
Thus, drinking water, which is a natural
resource, is scarce in desert. Well, the fact is, it
is scarce everywhere. That is why in most of the
countries, people buy drinking water in everyday
life. Due to scarcity, people have become water
conscious.
Anyways, in Germany, people pay $1.91/1000 litres
of water. But since Germany is a developed country, looks like people
can definitely afford that money whereas in Maldives, people pay $5.70/1000
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Scarce as a Hen’s Teeth
If you want to
read further,
Buy the book
NOW!!
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