6.8: Scarcity and Economic Systems

• I can define scarcity and explain how it affects the economy.

• I can compare how Canada and the U.S. respond to scarcity differently.

• I can describe how government involvement affects how scarcity is addressed.

Quick Write

“There's a shortage of clean water. Who should decide how to distribute it—people or government?” Why?

What is scarcity?

What do we mean by "food is scarce"?

scarcity - limited resources with unlimited wants/needs

In order to be a successful economy, there are three questions that must be answered:

• What do we want to produce?

• How are we going to produce it?

• Who will we produce it for?

Just as the economic systems are slightly different between Canada and the United States, so are the answers to these questions.

Think about what we have talked in this chapter. You were asked at the begining of this chapter to determine the degree to which you agree or disagree with these statements?

• The government should control major businesses.

• The government should set limits on how much companies can charge for basic needs like food, water, and housing.

• Essential services like mail delivery and public broadcasting should be run by the government, not private companies.

Prior to working through the material, many of you felt that the government should not be as invested in the economic events in Canada and you felt that that the United States had a better economic system as a market economy. How has this changed for you, from the beginning of the chapter? 

Jigsaw

You will be assigned either Canada or United States, and a scaricty scenario.

• oil shortage

• lack of affordable housing

• scarcity of clean water

• job shortages during a recession

Your task is to determine who your assigned country would (not should) respond based on its economic system.

Record the answers to these questions on your vertical writing space:

1. Who makes the decisions (government or market)?

2. How is the public interest considered?

3. What are the short-term solutions?

4. What are the long-term solutions?

Gallery Walk

Form new groups.

With your new group, circulate around to each of your posters and discuss what was recorded.

Using the dice, roll it to determine what sentence stem you will respond to the Feel free to add more information to the poster providing constructive feedback using these stems:

If you roll a .... use this stem:

0 or 6 → "Can you tell me more about..."

1 or 7 → "I'm not sure I understand ... Can you explain..."

2 or 8 → "How is that different from..."

3 or 9 → "So you're saying that... Is that right?"

4 or 10 →"Why do you think your country would ..."

5 →  "That reminds me of ... in my group we ..."

Imagine there is a shortage of vaccines during a pandemic like COVID-19. Based on what you know about Canada’s and the U.S.’s economic systems, how might each country respond to the vaccine shortage?"

Use what you’ve learned about government involvement and the role of individuals vs. the public interest to explain how each country might handle the situation.