An Initial Interim Conclusion

Albertshauser and Mankiw & Taylor do distinguish between needs that serve to preserve existence, and other, less urgent needs, which, however, play no role in the further course of both works. This distinction is, as can already be seen from the only chosen explanatory example—sweets are luxury goods—relevant for Albertshauser only for households with a merely limited budget. Mankiw & Taylor, on the other hand, call the necessities of life needs, and everything that makes life more pleasant beyond that, desires.