Which of the following describes the difference between "scarcity" and "shortage"? A. In the economic sense, almost everything is scarce. A shortage of a good or service occurs when the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied at the current market price. B. There is a shortage of almost everything. Scarcity occurs only if the quantity demanded of a good or service is greater than the quantity supplied at the current market price. C. There is no difference; either word can be used to describe the situation that exists when there is less of a good or service available than people want. D. In the economic sense, almost everything is scarce. A shortage of a good or service occurs when the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied at the equilibrium price.

In the study of economics, all the available resources are considered to be scarce. But the shortage is referred to the situation in the market where the quantity demanded is more than the quantity supplied at the current market price.

If the quantity supplied is more then the situation is referred to as surplus. Equilibrium is achieved when both quantity demanded and supplied are equal.