What term describes a good or service that is relatively scarce and has a price associated with it?

The correct term for a good or service that is relatively scarce and has a price associated with it is an economic good. An economic good is defined by its scarcity and the necessity of allocating resources to produce it. This type of good typically requires a price since it is limited in availability and involves opportunity costs in its production.

In contrast, a public good refers to goods that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous; these goods do not typically have associated prices since they are available for all to use without diminishing their availability to others. Merit goods, on the other hand, are those that the government believes will be under-consumed due to lack of information or consideration of benefits; they may be provided for free or subsidized, further diverging from the concept of scarcity and pricing. Free goods are those that are abundant and do not have an opportunity cost, which means they do not have a price because they are not scarce.

Thus, the distinction lies in the nature of scarcity and the presence of a market price, which is characteristic of economic goods.