Utility is an important concept in economics. In essence, anything that people want or desire is said to have utility. If only one person wants a specific item, the item may offer great utility for that person but little utility or none at all for the masses. Something that is intensely desired offers great utility. The greater the demand, the greater the utility. Utilities are classified in relation to time, place and form. For example, a cold storage house offers time utility for some products because freezing can preserve certain products from decay. Manufacturers can increase form utility of raw materials. For example, wood is more valuable in the form of furniture as opposed to simple boards.
Scarcity is also an important economic concept. Economics explores how scarce productive resources are employed to satisfy peoples' wants. Productive resources are considered "scarce," in that peoples' wants cannot be produced for free. Resources must be used as efficiently as possible. Human wants seem to go beyond what can be done to physically satisfy them, and, as a result, the problem of how to satisfy the largest possible number of wants effectively as a whole arises. Scarcity is the source of most of the economic problems across the globe. Scarcity results in competition for resources. Markets are a way to organize competition.
Value is one of the core concepts of economics. Articles that are not freely available and require labor to process or manufacture possess value. Articles like these possess value because they combine scarcity and utility. However, utility is the cornerstone of value because no one will pay for or exchange something for an article that no one wants. An article can only possess value if it offers utility and exists in insufficient quantities.
The relationship between producers and consumers is a very important concept associated with economics. Family units are considered both producers and consumers. Everybody is a consumer in that everyone has to consume goods and products or else perish. Most people are producers in that they have to go to work to earn a wage so they and their families can consume products. Producers create utility or otherwise make it available. A farmer is a classic example of a producer. A physician is also an example of a producer, whose services offer great utility to sick patients.