Amer N. Raja
Definition of Resources:
Resource can be defined as anything that can be employed to satisfy human needs and wants. As the aim of all economic activity is to satisfy some human needs or wants and so because of their ability to fulfill that function, resource is of utmost importance in Economics and other Social Sciences. Therefore, for satisfying human needs and wants, resources (material) like water, land, animals, oil, etc are required and by employing human labor and organization on the natural resources we produce other products either naturally (like fruits, vegetables, cattle/fish farming, golf course etc.) or by employing knowledge (science and technology) we produce many other products and services (cars, electronics, hospitality advertising etc).
Types of Resources:
As per our definition of resources, all things that can satisfy some human need or want are a resource. Air and overall habitable planet is a must for very fundamental human need to breathe and live. This fundamental resource has never been taxed by human for it is beyond their power to control as well as available in plenty. There are other resources like land, labor (with varied intelligence), water, animals, minerals etc known as natural resources which are limited and their human ownership varies from society to society and from time to time. The value added resources are those which have been derived by applying human skill and knowledge on combination of other natural resources. The examples consist of simple table to money and to machines like cart and motorcar.
Ownership of Resources
Ownership is a major problem concerning all human activities. It will not be an exaggeration to say that ownership of the resources is the main problem. There are few wars that are fought on the basis of principle but for the aggressive party in general there is some hidden motives to gain ownership over resources and through this impose their own agenda.
There is a fundamental principle in Economics which is - TINSTAFL - an acronym of "There is no such thing as free lunch". In other words, according to Economics nothing is free. What about the natural resources: air, land, labor etc? What are their costs? Who primarily own them? The Creator or they are just as it is? This definitely lead us to consult the other branches of knowledge theology, anthropology etc.
In the very beginning when there were no such issues of over population and political or national borders, how the ownership of resources among human was determined? Originally the own-able resources supposedly would have been owned by family head and allocated as per his discretion or if some of the family member does not agree he may leave alone or most probably with his own supporters. At that time conflict might have existed because of jealousy, anger, greed, arrogance or such other factors. However, our concern here is not to find the causes of war but to determine ownership of resources. Yet battles are fought to gain power over one's own tribe or neighboring tribes that eventually can determine ownership of resources. The other view is that they (populace) signed some social contract through which a governing team was formed and they also were responsible for allocation of resources. This vague social contract concept is the foundation of modern nation states. In other instances, some religious code might have been the determining factor in appointment of governing team and allocation of resources.
Ownership in case of idea – Someone discovered the cure for a disease, let’s say cancer, who will own the idea? Once inventions/discoveries are made, they can become a great profitable resource. Their ownership cannot be fully controlled, either it is propagated voluntarily or others somehow copy or independently discover it. Whoever uses that discovery/invention is entitled to own the idea.
Ownership in case of uncultivated/abandoned land – Who owns the land, owns the material from it. Generally, it is the government, rulers or conquerors do so?
ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES:
The next issue is the transfer of the ownership or resources. We do not live in a stationary world and also all resources are not fixed. Primarily land is a fixed resource but by applying skills and technology on land we can enormously increase the output from land in the form of vegetable, fruits, cotton, multi-storey construction etc. The ownership of the products remains the entity of the producer or owner of the land till it is not sold. In practice, the excess output is sold in the market and through exchange the ownership title changes from seller to buyer. Also the labor/experts sell their services to the buyer. In these cases, price mechanism (supply and demand determines price of a product/service) determine the allocation of resources. The seller sells their product or service in exchange of cash to the buyer that changes the ownership of the product as well as service (for a limited time). This also applies to industrial production along with livestock and other businesses. Inheritance, gift and charity are other methods through which ownership or resources can be changed. Then, government or rulers also give the ownership of resources to some individuals.
Other ways in which ownership of resources changes that however theoretically unapproved are stealing, robbery, coercion and capturing the produce, service or land.
Case: Ownership on Moon. It will be a good case to study that how ownership can be determined on the moon. Ultimately, it is owned by the Creator. Now, is it acceptable that whoever, reaches their first owns the moon or anyone who can reach their can own the piece or the one who has first reached there, prevents other and battles are fought and winners owns the space on moon. If someone has the other resources like capital, spaceship etc and wants to offer a visit to the moon open as a tour operator and own a resort there, does he/she need some permission, if so why?
