In basic economics, the scarce economic resources used to produce goods and services are also commonly called what?

Introduction / Context:
One of the first ideas introduced in economics is that resources are scarce and must be used carefully to produce goods and services that satisfy human wants. These scarce resources are given a special name in economic theory, and many exam questions ask you to recall this terminology. Knowing the standard term helps you understand later topics such as production functions, cost analysis and income distribution.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question asks about economic resources used to produce goods and services.
• Options include free goods, factors of production, public goods and consumption goods.
• We are working with basic introductory economic definitions.
• Economic resources are scarce and have alternative uses.

Concept / Approach:
Economic resources are also called factors of production. They are the inputs used to produce goods and services and include land, labour, capital and entrepreneurial ability. These resources are scarce relative to unlimited human wants, and they have alternative uses. Because they are scarce, society must decide what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce, which are the central problems of an economy. Terms such as free goods, public goods and consumption goods refer to different categories of outputs or special types of goods, not to the underlying resources themselves. Therefore, the correct answer is factors of production.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify that economic resources refer to inputs used in the production process.Step 2: Recall the standard classification of inputs into land, labour, capital and enterprise.Step 3: Remember that these inputs are collectively known as factors of production.Step 4: Compare this with the options and select factors of production as the only term that matches this definition.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by thinking of a simple production example such as a small bakery. The economic resources it uses include land (the shop space), labour (the workers), capital (ovens, mixers, counters) and enterprise (the owner who organises the business and takes the risk). All of these together are the factors of production. The bread produced is a consumption good, not a resource. The pavement outside or the air used in baking are usually treated as free goods. A government funded street light would be an example of a public good. None of these terms describe the scarce inputs that the bakery actively pays for and allocates, which reinforces that factors of production is the correct term for economic resources.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, free goods, is wrong because free goods are abundant and have no opportunity cost in economic terms, such as air in many situations. Economic resources are by definition scarce and have opportunity cost. Option C, public goods, is incorrect because public goods are a special type of output that is non rival and non excludable, such as national defence, not the resources used to produce them. Option D, consumption goods, refers to goods that are directly consumed by households, like food or clothing, again outputs rather than inputs. Only option B correctly identifies factors of production as the name for economic resources.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse the words goods and resources and may think that any important sounding term such as public goods must refer to the resources used in the economy. Another pitfall is to treat consumption goods as general economic goods and forget that the question is about resources used to produce those goods. To avoid these errors, always distinguish between inputs (factors of production) and outputs (goods and services), and remember that economic resources is another way of saying factors of production.

Final Answer:
Economic resources are also commonly called factors of production.