'Scarcity has both biophysical and institutional dimensions. Physical limits exist, but institutions shape how scarcity is experienced and distributed. Ostrom's work demonstrates that communities can govern scarce commons without relying exclusively on markets or centralized planning, while Sahlins argued that scarcity itself depends partly on culturally defined wants. These perspectives suggest that the question is not simply whether capitalism or central planning is "correct," but which institutional arrangements best match particular resources and social contexts'.