> [...] but are still sufficiently small that
> they do not experience
> scarcity of plentiful natural resources like
> sunlight and rocks.
Capital and raw materials are not infinite, and are thus -always- in a position of relative scarcity. There are millions and millions of possible ways of allocating them (including leaving raw materials unexploited for future use.)
Due to this relative scarcity raw materials and
capital have a value. This value is
Some useful economics terms:
opportunity cost
determined/discovered in the market place by balancing
various supply and demand curves.
scarcity
markets