Tariq Al Habtoor - Exploring the Basic Principles of Economic Sustainability

Tariq Al Habtoor Exploring the Basic Principles of Economic Sustainability

Tariq Al Habtoor Tariq Al Habtoor is an intellectually-curious individual – someone who enjoys ideas, topics and exploration that both challenge his perception of the world and stimulate a new way of thinking about how the world works and what it is capable of.

Tariq Al Habtoor In that respect, Al Habtoor appreciates the study and discussion of economics – particularly as it falls within the framework of economic sustainability.

Tariq Al Habtoor As Tariq Al Habtoor knows, economic sustainability was famously broken down into three core principles – those defined by noted expert John Ickerd as: •Sovereignty •Efficiency •Scarcity

Sovereignty Considered the first basic principle of sustainability, sovereignty is the concept of free will – or the lack thereof – when it comes to choosing what to buy or seizing on available economic opportunity. Many economists make the assumption of individual sovereignty without considering the market forces of persuasion (marketing) and excessive borrowing.

Efficiency Essential to the concept of sustainability, efficiency refers to value vs. cost. It is said that when the value of an object or service is greater relative to its costs, than that object has greater efficiency.

Maximizing an object’s value is therefore critical to achieving maximum efficiency.

Scarcity When a thing is scarce, it is said to have economic value – as opposed to that thing’s intrinsic value, which is directly related to necessity.

This principle is directly tied into the economic concept of supply and demand.