Limited resources and limitless economic needs form the basis of the movement of the entire economy and express the basic principle of economic theory. In fact, the whole economy comes down to exploring how a resource-poor society decides what to produce, how and for whom. The main goal of production is to most effectively use their economic opportunities in order to maximally satisfy the material needs of a person.
Limited resources mean that the total amount of opportunities that are at the disposal of individual countries, companies, families, as well as the whole of humanity, will not be enough to satisfy the whole gamut of society's needs.
Arable agricultural land, territories for the location of production facilities, water resources, minerals and minerals, an air basin, flora and fauna - all this has its finite limits and a very limited ability to restore, and in many ways relates to completely irreplaceable natural resources.
The work of people, as a resource, has its limits and is determined by the total number of workers, as well as the desire and ability to work, labor productivity and the length of labor time.
Means of production also demonstrate limited resources, since the number of buildings, industrial structures, machinery, equipment, production materials is not at all unlimited. The cycle of development, creation and effective use of the means of production invariably leads to wear, termination of use and disposal. Secondary resources arising from processing allow only partially compensate and restore previously spent resources.
It seems that at least the possibilities of human cognition should be unlimited. However, in practice, the volume of knowledge, information and other information resources is clearly not enough in terms of both quality and quantity to solve pressing economic problems.
Limited resources are also evident in relation to finance. Money, as the equivalent of natural resources, also has its limit.
Thus, we see that this problem is global in nature and applies to all areas of human and natural capabilities. In foreign literature, it is called fundamental and is among the determining ones. The main task, which, according to some authors, is posed to economic science is to find ways to increase the consumer effect and usefulness, given the limited resources that must be used to achieve the best result.
However, for all its importance, the principle of limitation should not be absolutized. In relation to a number of possibilities, limited resources are not rigid, because their interchangeability is manifested. In such cases, the main task is to use available, sufficient resources as efficiently as possible. For example, in the Russian economy, many natural resources are becoming clearly insufficient due to their extremely inefficient use.
The limited economic resources also demonstrate to us that people always want to have more than they can get with real opportunities. This contradiction between needs and opportunities forms the core around which all economic activity is built. Economic economies of all sizes, from families to large corporations, constantly have to make choices about what to buy, what to produce, and how to spend their resources, which are always limited.