Abstract
The satisfaction of human needs constitutes the primary goal acknowledged in mainstream economics. In order to explore the nature of human needs, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is discussed. Human needs are observed to be principally without constraint. A “good” is defined with regard to its ability to satisfy a human need. Within the set of goods, commodities are distinguished from services. A classification of goods according to the criteria of excludability from use and rivalry in use is presented. Production is identified as the most important approach to make goods available. The main problem that forms the point of departure of economic thinking is described as the tension between the boundlessness of human needs, on the one hand, and the limited availability of the means to satisfy those needs, on the other. This phenomenon is called “scarcity”.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Notes
- 1.
For more detail on the following, see Maslow (1987, pp. 15–22).
- 2.
In his Threepenny Opera, Berthold Brecht puts it colloquially: “Grub first, then ethics”.
- 3.
For a more sophisticated discussion of the terms “good”and “commodity” see Milgate M (2008) Goods and commodities. In: Durlauf SN, Blume LE (eds), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edn. Palgrave Macmillan.
- 4.
These are often called “public goods” as well.
- 5.
Imagine roughly the time span from 2,600,000 years ago to 2000 BC. The fact that the economic approach enables researchers to interpret the life situation and hardship of mankind thousands, even millions of years ago reveals the importance of economic science for humanities.
- 6.
Böhm-Bawerk (1959, pp. 79–101) describes industrial production of the modern age as “roundabout” which means that consumable goods available at present are not consumed immediately but, instead, used to produce investment goods. Using these investment goods productively yields a higher amount of consumable goods in the future than were available initially.
- 7.
“There you cannot help but thrive; The geese, they roast themselves alive. Meat, fish, fat capons, it’s no ordeal, Cook themselves for the midday meal” (Pleij 2001, p. 38). And maybe the best of all: “This is the land that God holds dear! Those who sleep longest earn the most here” (ibid., p. 37).
References
Maslow AH (1987) Motivation and personality, 3rd edn. Addison Wesley Longman, New York
Pleij H (2001) Dreaming of Cockaigne: medieval fantasies of the perfect life. Columbia University Press, New York
von Böhm-Bawerk E (1959) Capital and interest, vol II, Positive theory of capital. Libertarian Press, South Holland
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
1 Electronic Supplementary material
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Endres, A., Radke, V. (2012). The Fundamental Problem. In: Economics for Environmental Studies. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31193-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31193-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31192-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31193-2
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)