Scarcity is a situation in which resources used in production are limited and expensive. Scarcity forms the basis of the study of economics. Without scarcity, the study of economics will not be existing. All the scarce resources are expensive in nature due to their high demand by consumers. The high demand could be as a result of lack of substitutes. Examples of scarce resources include money, raw materials, time and even the natural resources. However, some natural resources may not be scarce because they are unlimited in supply, they can be consumed at no cost and their demand is low.

A post-scarcity economy refers to a economy in which resources can be acquired for free. Attaining a post-scarcity economy is imaginative, it cannot be realistically achieved. As a realistic alternative, an economy in which everyone will have enough money to use in acquiring resources can be achieved. Otherwise, there must be some resources which are scarce no matter the efforts used including the best technology to them to make them un-scarce.