What is the central idea of the section called "The Great Economic Problem"? A. The three factors of production that create the great economic problem include labor, natural resources, and capital. B. The great economic problem of society is how to make scarce resources satisfy the wants and needs of all members. C. A limited amount of resources means that most individuals in society are unable to meet their wants or needs. D. Economizing the factors of production is one of the most critical functions of an economic system. Producing economic goods to satisfy human wants requires resources. Factors of production are all the human and nonhuman resources that go into the production of material goods. These resources are of three principal types: first, labor, or the efforts of human beings; second, natural resources, such as the land, raw materials, and so on that are the basis of all the material products that humans make; and, third, capital, or productive equipment, which includes tools, machines, factory buildings, and all the things that human beings have made to help them produce more easily and efficiently the kinds of goods they ultimately require to satisfy personal wants. Goods in the form of capital do not directly satisfy human wants. Their importance is that they ultimately enable us to produce a much greater quantity and variety of consumer goods than would otherwise be possible, and often goods of a more desirable kind or quality. All productive resources labor, natural resources, and capital are limited in quantity, whereas in modern societies human wants seem practically unlimited. Our own society may be affluent in comparison with others, and a very small minority of its members may have few wants of consequence that remain unsatisfied, but the vast majority find it difficult to stretch their incomes enough to provide all the things they desire. We cannot continue indefinitely to satisfy greater and greater economic wants for an ever increasing population without encountering shortages of resources and more and more environmental pollution. In the 1970s, the trend in thinking was that economic growth was undesirable and that "small is beautiful." By the 1980s and continuing into the twenty-first century, most people were seeking ways to have increasingly higher levels of economic growth without diminishing efforts to control pollution and conserve and extend resources. This led to serious concerns that the energy consumption associated with economic activity was causing the global temperature to rise, which was bringing about some major physical changes in our world. Economizing making the best possible use of the resources that we employ at any time, regardless of what we think of growth is one of the most important functions of an economic system. Determining the best mechanism for economizing, or allocating resources, is the fundamental task of economic policy