Wants

WAN TS DEWETT Page nos 51/56

HUMA N WAN TS  

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“A man is a bundle of desires” His wants are infinite in number and variety In olden days, he was satisfied with some food to live, some clothing to cover his body and some sort of shelter to protect himself from weather and enemies. Without these basic needs , mams life would be impossible.

HUMA N WAN TS    

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But a civilized man is not satisfied with bare necessaries of life. The struggle is for comforts and joys of life As man becomes more civilized, his wants multiply He wants better food, fashionable clothing, better accommodation and so on Wants vary from individual to individual

Characteri sti cs of human want s  Human

wants are unlimited

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No end ie when one want is satisfied another crops in. There is no limit to his wants so long as he breathes

Wants a re comple me nta ry 

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Very seldom one commodity by itself satisfies a human want. It calls for something else in addition. If we want to write a letter, he must buy a pen as well as ink and paper. The pen alone is mot enough The petrol car needs petrol and mobile oil Shoe needs laces

Wants a re competitive 

Not only wants are complementary, they are also competitive. We have limited money and we need many items at the same time. We cannot buy all items. We must choose between them by accepting and rejecting. Thus there is competition

Wants are al ternativ e

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If we feel thirsty, we can have soda, lassi, sarbath in summer and hot coffee/ tea in winter. There are different alternatives open to us. The final choice depends on relative price and money at our disposal.

Wa nts vary with time/ pl ace and per son  Wants

are not always the same. Same person may require different things above

Wants mu lt iply wit h civi liza tion  As

civilization goes up, the demand for radio, camera, cinema, television etc increases

Wan ts ar e rec ur ri ng This applies routine expenditure- say food

Wants change into habi ts  Young

lads - smokers

Wants in flu enced b y in come/s ale smanship /a dvertis ement

 Persuasive

salesman & clever advertisement – even though better alternatives are available

Wants are resu lt of custom/ conve ntio n  We

are slaves to customs. They are dictated to us by society. Whether we like or not we have to spend a lot of money on social ceremonies

Present want s are more im portant than f uture want s  Future

is uncertain and unpredictable.  “A bird in hand is better than two in the bush”

Any parti cul ar wa nt i s sati abl e 

A particular want can be satisfied, if one has money for the purpose. If he is hungry, his want is satisfied. If he wants car, he can buy it

Impor tance economi 

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of want s in c theory

The fact that any single want is satiable leads to law of Diminishing marginal utility which says that every successive unit of commodity consumed has less utility. This is one of the fundamental laws of economics on which are based several other economic laws as folows Law of demand Consumers surplus Elasticity of demand Principle of progressive taxation

Imp ortance o f wa nts 

The competitive nature of human wants has given us law of substitution

Im port ance of wants 

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Two of the other characteristics of human wants that we have considered above are-wants recur again and again and wants change into habits. This leads to a part of man’s standard of living

Im port ance of wants 

The modern theory of wages is based on the standard of living prevailing at any time. It states that on lower side wages must be sufficient to enable a worker to maintain his standard of living

Imp ortance o f wa nts  The

time preference theory of interest is based on the characteristic that people prefer their present wants to their future wants.

Imp ortance o f wa nts  The

theory of joint demand is based on the characteristics that some wants are complementary

Cl assi fic atio n of wants 1. 2.

3.

Necessaries for existence ( food, clothing, shelter etc) Necessaries of efficiency (a table and chair necessary to efficient studenthaving these, he will be able to read and write better) Conventional necessary ( we are expected to follow social customesDress)

Cl assi fic atio n of wants

4. comforts (cushion chair for a student)  5. luxuries (costly furniture, luxury car, house fitted with various luxury items) 

Ca n we ju st ify lu xury  2. 3. 4. 5.

6.

Positive points Creates employment (good for trade and industry) Transfer wealth from rich to useful members in society) Add the skill of the workers Stimulates new inventions – new labor saving devices and new types of goods. Beneficial to society (people refined, cultured and aesthetic)

Ca n we ju st ify lu xury  Negative

points  Economically wasteful  Morally bad

Luxury - conclu sio n   

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All cannot be condemned Some are harmful ( money spent on dances, drinks) Luxury promotes industry may not be right. Instead of building a luxury palace, a Maharaja can promote by constructing a textile mill or sugar mill. Anyway, most luxury are waste.

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Necessari es/ comf orts / luxuri es are rel ati ve terms We cannot attach permanent and fixed

labels on necessaries, comforts and luxuries The same thing may be a necessary and luxury in different conditions Yesterday’s luxury has becomes today’s necessary- cooking gas, mobile phone Items used by higher classes in the past are considered necessaries by working class today eg electricity, news paper, furniture

Con cl usi on 

Goods are necessaries, comforts or luxuries according to climate, country and people. They are relative to person, time and place. Nothing can be considered as a luxury or necessary for ever for every person without reference to the condition