A basic concept in economics is that all resources used to satisfy human wants are considered to be what?

Introduction / Context:
Economics is often defined as the study of how society manages its scarce resources. The idea of scarcity is central: resources are not available in unlimited quantities and therefore choices must be made about their use. The question asks you to identify the basic characteristic that economists attribute to resources used to satisfy human wants.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Human wants are considered unlimited or at least very large.
• Resources include land, labour, capital and enterprise.
• Economics focuses on how these resources are used and allocated.
• Options include valuable, limited, renewable and allocated.

Concept / Approach:
The fundamental economic problem arises because resources are limited while wants are many. Limited here means scarce relative to the desired uses, not necessarily rare in an absolute sense. This scarcity forces individuals and societies to make choices: what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. Terms like valuable, renewable and allocated describe other aspects of resources but do not capture this central idea. Valuable simply means something is useful and desired, but not all valuable things are scarce in the same way. Renewable describes whether the resource can be replenished naturally. Allocated describes the outcome of a decision process, not the underlying characteristic that creates the need for decisions. Therefore, the correct answer is that resources are limited.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the common definition of economics as the study of how people allocate scarce or limited resources among competing uses.Step 2: Focus on the key word scarce, which is equivalent to limited in the context of the options.Step 3: Compare this with the options and note that limited is the only word that directly reflects scarcity.Step 4: Select limited as the correct description of the basic characteristic of resources in economic theory.

Verification / Alternative check:
Think about everyday examples. Time is a resource: each person has only 24 hours in a day, so time is limited and choices must be made about work, leisure and study. Money is another resource: incomes are finite, so people must decide how to divide their budget among food, housing, education and entertainment. Land is fixed in total area and is limited for agriculture, housing and industry. In each case, scarcity or limited availability relative to wants is what creates the need for economic decision making. This confirms that limited is the most appropriate term.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, valuable, is wrong because the key point in economics is not just that resources are valuable but that they are scarce relative to uses. Some things may be valuable but not scarce in the strict sense. Option C, renewable, refers to whether a resource can naturally regenerate, as in the case of forests or fish stocks. Not all resources are renewable, and even renewable resources can be overused. Option D, allocated, describes what happens after a decision is made about how to use resources; it is a result of scarcity, not the defining characteristic itself. Only option B captures the foundational idea that resources are limited.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes focus on the word valuable because textbooks say economics studies the allocation of scarce and valuable resources. However, valuable alone does not imply scarcity. Another pitfall is to confuse the environmental concept of renewability with the economic concept of scarcity, which applies even to renewable resources if they are insufficient to meet all wants. To answer such questions correctly, always remember that scarcity or limited availability is the starting point of economic analysis.

Final Answer:
In economics, all resources used to satisfy human wants are considered to be limited or scarce.