Video: What's What?

Goods and Services

Goods are objects people want that they can touch and hold.

Goods are items you buy like a phone, a laptop, a sandwich, or a basketball.

Services are actions that a person does for someone else. The cashier is providing a service by ringing up the groceries for the family to buy.

Doctors, teachers, firefighters, builders, and technicians are examples of jobs where people provide a service to others.

We all have need and wants.

Needs are good and services that are required.

We need food. We need clothes. We need somewhere to live. We need health care.

Wants are goods or services that aren’t necessary, but we desire them.

Here’s an example. We may need clothes, but we don’t need designer clothes. That’s a want.

We may need shelter, but we don’t need to live in a million dollar mansion.

We may need food, but we don’t need to buy it at an expensive grocery store.

An economic want is a desire that can be satisfied by consuming a good, service of leisure activity.

Have you ever heard your parents talk about wanting a vacation?

Is there a certain car your dad wants?

Is there a necklace your mom wants?

Maybe you want a new bike?

People have different levels of income to purchase economic wants.

Maybe they save up enough money over time to purchase those economic wants.

Maybe those wants are out of reach and they don’t have enough money, so instead people spend their money on other goods, services, or leisure activities that still satisfy them.

These people are satisfying their economic wants. They chose what good, service, or leisure activity they wanted to spend their money on.

Do these things make them happy? Yes! Would they be happy without these things? Probably.

But as a society, we are exposed to many things that we want.

It’s about making choices on how we spend our money, so we can pay for the things we need while hopefully having some left over for the things we want.