Q.What is meant by 'wealth' in economics? State the essential conditions a thing must satisfy to be treated as wealth.
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The foundational terms of the subject: wants (desires backed by willingness and ability to pay — unlimited but individually satiable), utility (a good's want-satisfying power, subjective and distinct from usefulness), goods (things with utility — free vs economic, consumer vs producer), value (value in exchange, distinct from value in use — the water–diamond parad …
In economics 'wealth' is a technical term with clear tests, and it means more than just money.
Wealth is the stock of all economic goods that have utility, are scarce, and are transferable — free goods like air are useful but are not weal …
Meaning. In economics, wealth means all economic goods that have value in exchange — the stock of valuable goods a person, firm, or country owns. It is not the same as money alone, nor the same as income (which is a flow over time, whereas wealth is a stock at a point of time).
Essential conditions for a thing to be treated as wealth. A thing qualifies as wealth only if it satisfies all three of the following:
- Utility — it must have the power to satisfy a human want (people must want it).
- Scarcity — it must be limited in supply relative to demand, so that it commands a price. This is why free goods like air and sunlight, though useful, are not wealth — they are not scarce and command no price. …
Two errors are common: (a) equating wealth with money — money is only one form of wealth; and (b) forgetting the transferability test, which is why pers …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Motor car for a busy doctor is a :(a) Necessary(b) Comfort(c) Luxury(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
The classification of a good as necessary, comfort or luxury depends on the consumer and the purpose, not on the good. For a busy doctor a car is a professional necessary, so the answer is (a) Necessary.
In business economics, consumers' goods are grouped by the intensity of the want they satisfy:
- Necessaries are goods essential for life, efficiency or a person's occupation (food, basic clothing, and tools/means needed to earn a living).
- Comforts make life easier and more pleasant but are not essential (a fan, a sofa).
- Luxuries are expensive goods meant mainly for display or extra satisfaction (costly jewellery, a sports car kept for pleasure). …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The goods having exchange value are known as :(a) Free goods(b) Unproductive goods(c) Economic goods(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
Goods with exchange value are scarce and command a price, which is the defining mark of economic goods. Answer: (c) Economic goods.
Free goods exist in unlimited supply relative to human wants (air, sunlight). Because they are not scarce, nobody pays for them — they have no exchange value and no price.
Economic goods are scarce in relation to the demand for them. Their scarcity means they can be obtained only by paying a price, so they possess value in exchange — they can be exchanged for money or for other goods. Possessing exchange value is precisely what distinguishes an economic good from a free good.
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- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The goods which satisfy human wants indirectly are called :(a) Public goods(b) Consumers' goods(c) Producers' goods(d) Intermediate goods
›Reveal solutionSolution
Producers' (capital) goods satisfy human wants indirectly because they are used to make the final consumer goods. Answer: (c) Producers' goods.
Goods are classified by the nature of the satisfaction they give:
- Consumers' goods (e.g. bread, clothes) satisfy human wants directly — they are used up by the final consumer to meet a want.
- Producers' goods / capital goods (e.g. machines, tools, raw materials, factory equipment) satisfy human wants indirectly. They are not consumed for their own sake; they are used in the process of production to turn out consumer goods, and it is through those final goods that wants are ultimately met. …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Health is not wealth because it has no :(a) Scarcity(b) Utility(c) Marketability(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
Wealth needs utility, scarcity and transferability/marketability. Health has utility and scarcity but cannot be transferred or sold, so it fails the marketability test. Answer: (c) Marketability.
In economics a thing is called wealth only if it possesses all of these characteristics:
- Utility — it can satisfy a want.
- Scarcity — it is limited relative to demand.
- Transferability / Marketability — ownership can be transferred and it can be exchanged for a price in the market.
- Externality (it must be external to a person, not a personal quality). …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Destruction of utility is known as :(a) Production(b) Distribution(c) Consumption(d) Division
›Reveal solutionSolution
Consumption is the act of using up goods/services to satisfy wants, which destroys their utility. Answer: (c) Consumption.
The four basic economic activities are linked to utility as follows:
- Production is the creation of utility (making goods capable of satisfying wants).
- Consumption is the using up / destruction of utility — when a want is satisfied by using a good, the utility embodied in it is exhausted. Eating food or burning fuel destroys the utility that was created in it.
- Distribution refers to sharing the national product (rewards to factors), and exchange to the transfer of goods — neither is the destruction of utility. …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Examine the correctness of the following statement and correct it if incorrect, without changing the underlined portion : The law of equimerginal utility is otherwise known as the law of substitution.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The statement is correct — the law of equi-marginal utility is also called the law of substitution, because a consumer keeps substituting goods until marginal utilities per rupee are equal.
The law of equi-marginal utility states that a consumer with limited income gets maximum total satisfaction when he allocates his expenditure so that the marginal utility of the last unit of money spent on each good is equal (i.e. the ratio of marginal utility to price is the same for every good).
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- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Write the correct answer choosing from the alternatives given under each bit : Who gave the scarcity definition of Economics?(a) Adam Smith(b) Alfred Marshall(c) Lionel Robbins(d) J. S. Mill
›Reveal solutionSolution
The correct answer is (c) Lionel Robbins, who gave the scarcity (choice) definition of Economics.
Definitions of Economics evolved over time, and this question tests which economist is linked with the scarcity definition — a standard idea for CHSE Odisha +2 Class-12 Business Economics (the syllabus aligns with the NCERT/CBSE economics curriculum).
- Adam Smith (a) is linked with the wealth definition — economics as a study of the nature and causes of the wealth of nations.
- Alfred Marshall (b) gave the welfare definition — economics as a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life, concerned with material welfare. …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Value means(a) usefulness of a commodity(b) exchange value of a commodity(c) pleasure derived from a commodity(d) want satisfying power of a commodity
›Reveal solutionSolution
The correct answer is (b) exchange value of a commodity.
This is a basic-concepts item in CHSE Odisha +2 Business Economics. The word 'value' must be distinguished from related terms:
- Usefulness / want-satisfying power (a and d) describe utility, not value. Utility is the capacity of a good to satisfy a want; a good can have high utility yet little exchange value (e.g. water).
- Pleasure derived (c) is a subjective satisfaction, again closer to utility than to value. …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Examine the correctness of the following statement. Correct it if necessary, without changing the portion underlined : The want satisfying capacity of a commodity is called consumption. (underlined: The want satisfying capacity of a / commodity is called)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The statement is incorrect; the correct word is 'utility', not 'consumption'.
This is a correct-the-statement item in CHSE Odisha +2 Business Economics, where the underlined part — 'The want satisfying capacity of a commodity is called' — must be kept unchanged.
- The want-satisfying capacity of a good or service is the standard definition of utility. …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Examine the correctness of the following statement. Correct it if necessary, without changing the portion underlined : National highway is an example of national wealth. (underlined: National highway is an example of; wealth)
›Reveal solutionSolution
The statement is correct — a national highway is an example of national wealth.
This is a correct-the-statement item in CHSE Odisha +2 Business Economics.
Wealth in economics is anything that has utility, is scarce, is transferable and has exchange value. Wealth can be classified as:
- Individual (private) wealth — owned by a person (house, car, bank balance).
- National (collective/social) wealth — assets owned by the community or the State, available for common use, such as roads, railways, rivers, public parks, bridges and national highways. …
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