Scarcity in economics refers to the situation where the available resources are limited or finite, while the wants and needs of people are infinite. This means that there are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services that people desire. As a result, scarcity forces individuals, businesses, and governments to make choices about what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce. Scarcity is not necessarily associated with a period of production, hoarding of goods, monopolization of resources, or famine, but rather with the fundamental economic problem of unlimited wants and needs conflicting with limited resources.