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This article demonstrates the scarcity facing the food supply of people in North Korea. Although we would normally expect food scarcity because of, for example, a natural disaster, the food scarcity experienced by the people in North Korea is not only because of a lack of food being made... It is scarce because the government is preventing the supply of food from getting to the people, creating a greater demand than supply. Food is a limited resource, but the problem of scarcity in this part of the world is because of political reasons in addition to natural.

It's really disturbing to read this. When we're working towards satisfying as many wants as we have, some people don't even get what they need.

"The study looked at 'demand elasticities' in Australia for 15 food categories and is the most comprehensive ever done in the field. The degree to which a product's demand or supply reacts to a change in price is known as its 'elasticity'" This article highlights that out of 15 food groups studied, milk, bread, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables all have an inelastic demand. This is the opposite as to what i personally would have predicted, because with varying prices and what i assumed was a varying demand for fruits and vegetables, i thought that this could be an elastic demand. Some of the products with an elastic PED are All meat types, rice, margarine and preserved vegetables. This is interesting as it seems as though consumers would rather pay more to have food that can spoil, compared to food which can be stored or freezed.

This article explains that food prices are increasing, and will continue to increase because of the increasing demand in third world countries especially.

I think that this is a very relevant article to the weeks topic. It covers in depth the potential issues that the world could face, in richer countries with a shortage of food, and poorer countries with farmers not being able to harvest in a way to supply enough food for the demand around the world. In the current world, starvation is a major issue, and the artcile illustartes this is a informative but serious manner.

This article discusses the UK's big issue of rising food prices as a result of inflation. It says that the UK hasn't had a let up in rising food prices for a long time, with prices on a constant rise and the considerable issue of those poorer customers who are struggling to afford these high prices.

As world worries grow about a crash in the system, this article looks at some of the current issues involving the depletion of food in North America. We have already seen the severe consequences of scarcity (in terms of food) in Eastern Africa with the current famine. Certain steps will need to be taken to make sure that the same this doesn't happen in North America

This article demonstrates opportunity cost because it shows that eating healthy food costs less but most people prefer not to because of the inconvenience of cooking it.

This is a really neat way of looking at opportunity cost! It not only shows the opportunity cost of specific products, but how we as humans determine what's important, or what's the most important.

Now for Somalian citizens who are faced with a compulsory pattern of living with famine, scarcity can be thought as not invited but already a citizen, despite the environmental constraints of hydro climatically-induced water scarcity and the considerable fluctuations which characterize the natural freshwater supply supposed to exist; a water-stress routine is now an impact on the responsibility of improved water supply for self-sufficient crop production (resulting in lack of food and crop production) as well as the number of these Somalian individuals desperately depending on any flow unit of water available to them from the water cycle. Sadly as stated it is not of a short term crisis but if seen in a medium-term-perspective, water may not be readily available to support improved life quality for this growing African population, so the economy therefore is faced with a great deal of scarcity without knowing what to do about it.

This article discusses inflation in Poland, and includes a lot of information from the nation's policy-makers and economists. This represents a case of anticipated inflation, because they are looking to combat rising prices, and evaluating which methods work, and which do not. The inflation has slowed down, and forecasts/estimates of the economy are looking better, due to increasingly manageable factors such as borrowing costs, interest rates, & price growth.

This article outlines the consistent debate over nutrition, especially in schools. The beneficial externalities are obvious in an increase in health for the student, as well as the encouraged development of healthy eating. However, if junk-foods are so much easier to obtain and the number of un-educated consumers in terms of nutrition are so low, the public will be more inclined to just keep eating in their old habits. How on earth can the government effectively change this situation for the betterment of society?

Victoria Cadman, economist at Investec, said no change in the rate of inflation would be an "uncomfortable reality" for the Bank of England, which confidently forecast inflation to fall rapidly throughout 2012 and into 2013. The Bank's policy-makers will be less inclined to pump more money into the economy through its quantitative easing programme if inflation continues to remain above target. This article discusses the expected increase in inflation figures which are coming out tomorrow because of high oil and food prices. These increases in inflation will lead to a higher cost of living, which is undesirable for pretty much everyone.

Hello, In this article it talks about how the Venezuelan government are trying to control inflation by setting fixed prices. The government's policy of price control demonstrate faith that one day they might succeed and lower their inflation rate which is at 27 per cent, the same as last year. The government are imposing a new law which the price controls will affect five general areas; personal and domestic hygiene products, car parts, medicines and health services and food. The government tries to prevent companies from "hoarding and speculation" and "exploiting the people". Also, the prices for 18 products are being frozen, and companies like Heinz, Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Nestle need 'special' attention. People say that the fear the private companies how will lead to more shortages and more inflation. From Tim

This article describes the recent growth in a number of firms producing Greek Yogurt in the United States. As a result of this growth, the firms are experiencing economies of scale and they are all expanding their factories to increase their output. As the article states: "The Chobani plant today bustles with 14 production lines mechanically squirting yogurt into plastic cups that zip down conveyor belts." - this shows a technological improvement that is an economy of scale: due to the increase in size in the firm, it can employ more efficient, lower cost methods of production.

The government has installed tight price controls as they have the world's highest inflation rate at the moment. They imposed these strict price controls on basic goods however, food prices have still risen up to 9 times as high as they were before. However, the price controls may be doing some good as Venezuela has been in the same situation before and after the price controls they had in place were lifted, prices rose from 40% to more than 100%.

This news article is basically concerning the issue of scarcity of natural resources in Africa. We are all well aware that the continent is undergoing an adaptation period with the ongoing climate change and this affects the agricultural aspect of the entire continent (more so in the rural areas). The article talks about the steps that are intended to be taken to withstand the impact of the change in climate and its effects on resources.

Today, we are one of 7 billion people on Earth. This historic milestone is rekindling age-old debates over birth control, protecting natural resources and reducing consumption. It also has many wondering whether the Earth can support so many people. About half were added just in the past 40 years, and 3 billion more are expected by 2100.

According to Carl Haub, "Currently, world population is growing at the most rapid pace in history." And today, growth is highest in poorest countries where health care advances are keeping people alive longer while birth rates are still relatively high. Therefore in the future, there will be more shortages in food and the price of everything will be going up. There will not be a equilibrium of the economy after all.