Is Being Bill Gates' Son An Economic Want?

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Economic wants are services, goods and circumstances people desire which can be met by purchasing power. Economic wants can only be satisfied with economic resources. Economic wants are very insatiable and vary from one person to another, or changes overtime if a particular individual is concerned. An example of an economic want is the desire to own a car. In order for the desire for a good or service to become an economic want, cost has to be involved in its acquisition. Cost in this sense doesn’t necessarily mean money, but also, letting go of some other goods and services which one would have desired to have. In order to really identify an economic want, some of its features have to be identified. Listed below are some of the features of economic wants: 1. Economic wants are influenced by income, salesmanship and advertisement. If income is high, more wants can be satisfied. Many things we buy of particular brands are due to salesmanship or advertisement. 2. Economic wants involve cost or sacrifice 3. Economic wants are alternative. There are various ways to satisfy an economic want. For example, if one feels thirsty, he can either drink water or consume a soft drink. 4. Some wants are recurring in nature. An example of such a want is food. We require food over and over again. Considering the characteristics stated above and the question, being the son of Bill Gates may be a want in the lay man’s way, but addressing this from an economic point of view, it is not an economic want. This can be seen in the following reasons: 1. Being the son of Bill Gate has no cost involved. Either financially or in some other form. 2. Becoming Bill Gate’s son has nothing to do with the income of an individual and it is not influenced by any form of advertisement. 3. There are no alternatives in Bill Gates being one’s father. Once he is a father, there is no way to replace

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