Law and Economy
Economy needs - goods - services
Index
What are the services
Characteristics of needs
Title Page
Video
Index
What are goods
Quiz!
What is economics?
Characteristics of economic goods
Greetings
What are needs?
Classification of economic needs
Classification of economic goods
What is economics?
Economics is the social science that studies human behaviour aimed at obtaining goods and services necessary to satisfy their needs and that, moreover, seeks to suggest which choices to make to maximise the utility obtained by using the limited resources available.
Social science
Utility
What are needs?
Needs are the actual or perceived requirements that humans feel and seek to satisfy through goods and services.
Classification of economic needs
Based on who perceives a given need, we have:
Individual needs
Collective needs
Classification of economic needs
Based on the importance of the need:
Primary needs
Secondary needs
Characteristics of needs
Subjective
Unlimited
Mutable
Satiable
Resurgent
What are goods?
Goods are all things that can satisfy a need of ours, they can be produced by humans (e.g.: cars, medicines, books, PCs, etc.) or available in nature (e.g.: water, wood, oil, fauna, etc.). Goods can be economic or non-economic (so-called free goods).
Economic goods
Non-economic or free goods
Characteristics of economic goods
Limited
Economically measurable
Useful
Accessible/retrievable
Classification of economic goods
Based on their duration we find:
Goods for immediate use
Durable goods
Based on their type of use we find:
Consumer goods
Instrumental goods
Classification of economic goods
Based on joint use with other goods
Complementary goods
Based on alternative use to other goods
Substitute goods
What are services?
The services are professional or work-related performances such as, for example, activities carried out by doctors, lawyers, mechanics, etc., performed by one or more people, or by companies or entities, for those who request them.
Private services
Public services
Thank you for your attention
Limited
They are available in limited quantities and still insufficient to meet human needs. For this reason, people are willing to pay to have them and satisfy their own needs.
Unlimited
Needs are countless, a potentially infinite number. This is due to the fact that technological progress continually creates new products that allow the emergence of new needs (e.g.: invention of the PC), but, upon closer inspection, we can say that the cause of this is the insatiability of the human soul, rarely satisfied with what it has.
Accessible/Obtainable
Goods, to qualify as economic, must be physically obtainable by humans. A mineral present on the planet Neptune, perhaps potentially useful, is not an economic good if it is not obtainable (humans are not technically able to appropriate it). The evolution of technology can make a good obtainable that was not before.
Limited
They have a value, usually expressed in money, which allows for their purchase and exchange (e.g.: car).This category does not include, for example, human organs (e.g.: transplant heart), the exchange of which is prohibited by law and, even more so, by ethics.
Free goods
They are goods that have no economic value, not because they are not important (on the contrary, many of them are essential to our lives, think of the air we breathe or the sun), but because they are freely accessible to everyone for free.
Secondary needs
Non-essential needs (e.g.: listening to music, going to the cinema, travelling, etc.).
What is utility in Economics?
Utility is the ability of a good or service to satisfy a need. Utility has two characteristics: 1) it is subjective; 2) it is decreasing.
Public services
These are services offered to the community by public entities (State, Municipalities, Regions, etc.). Examples of public services include: public schools, local police services, waste collection, justice, public healthcare, etc.
Private services
Services offered by private individuals (e.g.: lawyer, dentist, accountant, private school).
Goods for immediate use
Also called "non-durable", these are goods that can only be used once (e.g.: plate of pasta, water, petrol, etc.).
Economic assets
Are the assets capable of being valued economically. They can be subject to appropriation and exchange (e.g.: scooter, smartphone, electricity, petrol, etc.).
Individual needs
These are individual needs that are perceived by a single individual (e.g.: hunger, thirst, going to the cinema, etc.).
Durable goods
They are goods that can be used multiple times (e.g.: PC, car, smartphone, book, etc.).
Collective needs
Collective needs are those perceived by a group of people forming a community (e.g.: defence, security, healthcare system, etc.).
Complementary goods
They are goods that are used together with others, such as, for example, toothpaste and toothbrush, car and fuel, etc.
Capital goods
These are goods used to produce other goods (e.g.: industrial machinery used to produce cars).
Satisfiable
The need, to be such, must be able to be satisfied through a good or a service (e.g.: thirst can be satisfied with the good water). Otherwise, it cannot be considered a need in an economic sense, but mere desires (e.g.: wanting to be able to teleport).
What are social sciences?
Social sciences are a branch of science that studies humans in their social dimension and society itself. In addition to Economics, other fields classified as social sciences include, for example, Law, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, etc. Social sciences fall within the broader realm of human sciences (which, besides social sciences, also include disciplines that study humans in their individual dimension such as pedagogy and psychology).
Subjective
Needs vary from person to person, they are not the same for everyone. For example, a child, compared to an elderly person, will feel a greater need to play, whereas the elderly will more often require medical care.
Primary needs
They are the fundamental needs for our life (e.g.: breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping etc.).
Consumer Goods
These are goods that are used directly by consumers to satisfy their needs (e.g.: mobile phone, car, sandwich, etc.).
Variable
Needs vary in space and time (e.g.: the need to warm up is felt in winter, much less in summer, it is maximum at the North Pole, and minimum at the equator).
Resurgent
After being satisfied, needs tend to reappear (e.g.: after 6 hours from the last meal I am hungry again; the need to go on holiday to the sea reappears every summer, etc.).
Useful
Suitable for meeting needs.
Substitute goods
Alternative goods are those that can satisfy the same need for a subject. A typical example is butter and margarine, two fats, one of animal origin, the other plant-based, which can both be used as the fat component of a culinary preparation. Another example is the alternative use of plane or train for travel.
1.9 - Economy. Needs, goods, services.
Alessandro Paglialunga
Created on March 7, 2026
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Transcript
Law and Economy
Economy needs - goods - services
Index
What are the services
Characteristics of needs
Title Page
Video
Index
What are goods
Quiz!
What is economics?
Characteristics of economic goods
Greetings
What are needs?
Classification of economic needs
Classification of economic goods
What is economics?
Economics is the social science that studies human behaviour aimed at obtaining goods and services necessary to satisfy their needs and that, moreover, seeks to suggest which choices to make to maximise the utility obtained by using the limited resources available.
Social science
Utility
What are needs?
Needs are the actual or perceived requirements that humans feel and seek to satisfy through goods and services.
Classification of economic needs
Based on who perceives a given need, we have:
Individual needs
Collective needs
Classification of economic needs
Based on the importance of the need:
Primary needs
Secondary needs
Characteristics of needs
Subjective
Unlimited
Mutable
Satiable
Resurgent
What are goods?
Goods are all things that can satisfy a need of ours, they can be produced by humans (e.g.: cars, medicines, books, PCs, etc.) or available in nature (e.g.: water, wood, oil, fauna, etc.). Goods can be economic or non-economic (so-called free goods).
Economic goods
Non-economic or free goods
Characteristics of economic goods
Limited
Economically measurable
Useful
Accessible/retrievable
Classification of economic goods
Based on their duration we find:
Goods for immediate use
Durable goods
Based on their type of use we find:
Consumer goods
Instrumental goods
Classification of economic goods
Based on joint use with other goods
Complementary goods
Based on alternative use to other goods
Substitute goods
What are services?
The services are professional or work-related performances such as, for example, activities carried out by doctors, lawyers, mechanics, etc., performed by one or more people, or by companies or entities, for those who request them.
Private services
Public services
Thank you for your attention
Limited
They are available in limited quantities and still insufficient to meet human needs. For this reason, people are willing to pay to have them and satisfy their own needs.
Unlimited
Needs are countless, a potentially infinite number. This is due to the fact that technological progress continually creates new products that allow the emergence of new needs (e.g.: invention of the PC), but, upon closer inspection, we can say that the cause of this is the insatiability of the human soul, rarely satisfied with what it has.
Accessible/Obtainable
Goods, to qualify as economic, must be physically obtainable by humans. A mineral present on the planet Neptune, perhaps potentially useful, is not an economic good if it is not obtainable (humans are not technically able to appropriate it). The evolution of technology can make a good obtainable that was not before.
Limited
They have a value, usually expressed in money, which allows for their purchase and exchange (e.g.: car).This category does not include, for example, human organs (e.g.: transplant heart), the exchange of which is prohibited by law and, even more so, by ethics.
Free goods
They are goods that have no economic value, not because they are not important (on the contrary, many of them are essential to our lives, think of the air we breathe or the sun), but because they are freely accessible to everyone for free.
Secondary needs
Non-essential needs (e.g.: listening to music, going to the cinema, travelling, etc.).
What is utility in Economics?
Utility is the ability of a good or service to satisfy a need. Utility has two characteristics: 1) it is subjective; 2) it is decreasing.
Public services
These are services offered to the community by public entities (State, Municipalities, Regions, etc.). Examples of public services include: public schools, local police services, waste collection, justice, public healthcare, etc.
Private services
Services offered by private individuals (e.g.: lawyer, dentist, accountant, private school).
Goods for immediate use
Also called "non-durable", these are goods that can only be used once (e.g.: plate of pasta, water, petrol, etc.).
Economic assets
Are the assets capable of being valued economically. They can be subject to appropriation and exchange (e.g.: scooter, smartphone, electricity, petrol, etc.).
Individual needs
These are individual needs that are perceived by a single individual (e.g.: hunger, thirst, going to the cinema, etc.).
Durable goods
They are goods that can be used multiple times (e.g.: PC, car, smartphone, book, etc.).
Collective needs
Collective needs are those perceived by a group of people forming a community (e.g.: defence, security, healthcare system, etc.).
Complementary goods
They are goods that are used together with others, such as, for example, toothpaste and toothbrush, car and fuel, etc.
Capital goods
These are goods used to produce other goods (e.g.: industrial machinery used to produce cars).
Satisfiable
The need, to be such, must be able to be satisfied through a good or a service (e.g.: thirst can be satisfied with the good water). Otherwise, it cannot be considered a need in an economic sense, but mere desires (e.g.: wanting to be able to teleport).
What are social sciences?
Social sciences are a branch of science that studies humans in their social dimension and society itself. In addition to Economics, other fields classified as social sciences include, for example, Law, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, etc. Social sciences fall within the broader realm of human sciences (which, besides social sciences, also include disciplines that study humans in their individual dimension such as pedagogy and psychology).
Subjective
Needs vary from person to person, they are not the same for everyone. For example, a child, compared to an elderly person, will feel a greater need to play, whereas the elderly will more often require medical care.
Primary needs
They are the fundamental needs for our life (e.g.: breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping etc.).
Consumer Goods
These are goods that are used directly by consumers to satisfy their needs (e.g.: mobile phone, car, sandwich, etc.).
Variable
Needs vary in space and time (e.g.: the need to warm up is felt in winter, much less in summer, it is maximum at the North Pole, and minimum at the equator).
Resurgent
After being satisfied, needs tend to reappear (e.g.: after 6 hours from the last meal I am hungry again; the need to go on holiday to the sea reappears every summer, etc.).
Useful
Suitable for meeting needs.
Substitute goods
Alternative goods are those that can satisfy the same need for a subject. A typical example is butter and margarine, two fats, one of animal origin, the other plant-based, which can both be used as the fat component of a culinary preparation. Another example is the alternative use of plane or train for travel.