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Economic shortage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Economic shortage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Economic shortage is a term describing a disparity between the amount demanded for a
product or
service and the amount supplied in a
market. Specifically, a shortage occurs when there is excess demand; therefore, it is the opposite of a
surplus.
Economic shortages are related to
price?when the price of an item is set below the going rate determined by supply and demand, there will be a shortage. In most cases, a shortage will compel
firms to increase the price of a product until it reaches
market equilibrium. Sometimes, however, external forces cause more permanent shortages?in other words, there is something preventing prices from rising or otherwise keeping supply and demand unbalanced.
In common use, the term "shortage" may refer to a situation where most people are unable to find a desired good at an affordable price. In the economic use of "shortage", however, the affordability of a good for the majority of people is not an issue: If people wish to have a certain good but cannot afford to pay the market price, their wish is not counted as part of demand.
Contents
Effects
In the case of government intervention in the market, there is always a trade-off, with positive and negative effects. For example, a price ceiling may cause a shortage, but it will also enable a certain portion of the population to purchase a product that they couldn't afford at market costs. Economic shortages are generally seen as undesirable since they lead to economic inefficiency. In absence of a price mechanism, resources are less likely to be distributed according to people's
utility. Higher
transaction costs and
opportunity costs (e.g., in the form of lost time) also mean that the distribution process is wasteful. Both of these factors contribute to a decrease in aggregate wealth.
More generally, regardless of their cause, shortages may result in:
Black markets - illegal markets in which products that are unavailable in conventional markets are sold, or in which products with excess demand are sold at higher prices than in the conventional market.
Artificial controls on demand, such as
rationing.
Non-monetary bargaining methods, such as time (for example
queuing),
nepotism, or even violence.
Price discrimination
The inability to purchase a product.
Examples
In the former
Soviet Union during the 1980s, prices were artificially low by fiat (i.e., high prices were outlawed). Soviet citizens waited in line (or "queued") for various price-controlled goods and services such as cars, apartments, or some types of clothing. From the point of view of those waiting in line, such goods were in perpetual "short supply"; some of them were willing and able to pay more than the official price ceiling, but were lega...
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