Irritable means easy to irritate or bother.. If you have irritable skin, you get a rash from just about anything. An irritable person is not easy-going and often not very easy to be around. You might feel like you're walking on eggshells, or being extra careful not to upset your brother when he's in an irritable mood.
The economic problem. All societies face the economic problem, which is the problem of how to make the best use of limited, or scarce, resources. The economic problem exists because, although the needs and wants of people are endless, the resources available to satisfy needs and wants are limited. Resources are limited in two essential ways:
Economic Crisis: Why There Are No Easy Solutions. What we are witnessing, in the broadest sense, is the bankruptcy of modern economics. Its conceit has been that we had solved the problem of stability. Oh, there would be periodic recessions, but the prospects of a major economic collapse were negligible because we knew how the system worked and could take steps to prevent it. What's been so unsettling about the present crisis is that it has not conformed to the standard model of business cycles and has not submitted to familiar textbook solutions.