“There's no such thing as a free lunch.” When someone offers me free lunch, I now understand that lunch may not cost me money but that someone else produced the ingredients, transported them to the store, and paid for them. Economics is the study of how goods and services are produced, distributed, and used. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote that man's only motivation is self-interest. My personal interest is active when I buy shoes, develop my talents and participate in our economy. Last week I bought a pair of shoes at Short Hills Mall. The production, distribution and sale of shoes is a great example of division of labor. Companies produce these shoes. These companies use division of labor. In these companies there is a specific job for a person or a group of people. Division of labor is defined as the separation of a work process into a series of tasks, each performed by a distinct person or group of people. It is often applied to mass production systems and is one of the basic organizational principles of the assembly line. Breaking down work into simple, repetitive tasks eliminates unnecessary movement and limits the manipulation of different tools and parts. This is related to the example above; where the production, distribution and sale of shoes are separate activities in the separation of a work process. Another example of division of labor is: two people are in charge of washing the dishes. A person has his own task for himself. One person washes the dishes while the other dries them. As you can see, these two people have their own task that they have been assigned to, just like companies. A final example of scarcity is: if we all grow our own wheat, and then... middle of paper......f alternatives on how to spend Friday evening: I can go to the cinema, I can stay at home and watch" The Big Bang Theory" on TV, or go out for a hot chocolate with friends. If I choose to go to the movies, the opportunity cost of that action is what I would have chosen if I were not going to the movies, watching "The Big Bang Theory" or going out for hot chocolate with friends. As you can see, the concept of opportunity cost is part of our daily lives. The economy is linked to everyone's life. It is (as mentioned before) the study of how goods and services are produced, distributed and used. We make economic choices every single day in our daily lives; we may not realize it. In this essay I explained to you how these economic concepts, opportunity cost and scarcity, are linked to our daily lives.Works Citedalzheemrs' Diseae