This article provides a brief overview of the ideas that have emerged in economics in connection with exhaustible resources. A resource is exhaustible if, the more we consume today, the less will be available for consumption at later dates. The dynamics of resource allocation, and the attainment of efficiency in intertemporal models, are thus key aspects of any economic theory of exhaustibility. The exhaustibility paradigm is widely applicable, including to climate change, biodiversity loss and even such non-environmental phenomena as antibiotic resistance.