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A new study by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has found that chocolate is rising in demand in countries with new markets, such as China. However, due to global warming and a temperature rise of 2.3 degrees, the crops where cocoa is grown will halve by 2050. This will cause the entire demand curve for chocolate to shift to the right in the next 40 years. So far, an exact number for the price increase is unknown.  Price increases have occured in some places, such as West Africa, where the prices have gone up by 10 per cent.  Since cocoa needs a specific environment to grow (cool and moist), farmers can either decide whether to move their crops into the shade, which will have high costs, or to switch from growing cocoa  to another crop that CAN grow in the arid climate.  Some cocoa suppliers think that firms should focus on the quality and not the quantity of chocolate produced. This could have benefits, like better prices for farmers and less child labour. Not only is the chocolate market being affected by global warming, but also the French wine and Italian pasta market.  Non-price determinants such as the prices of related goods and expectations of future chocolate costs also play a large role in the chocolate market. If the demand for chocolate goes up in the next decades, the prices will also rise. Due to a change in prices more people will turn to chocolate-related goods like candy and pastries. Also, since a large price increase is expected to come, people will most likely buy as much chocolate as possible while it is still cheap. 

It can be deduced for this article that the scarcity for chocolate is increasing, just as the demand is. Due to shifts to the right in the demand curve, the price of chocolate has increased. Therefore, the demand curve will shift to the right and move up along the scarcity curve. Therefore, consumers will make sure to ration chocolate, as it has now become more expensive and less affordable. Other markets, like the candy market for example, that act as a substitute for chocolate will experience an increase in demand. On the other hand, markets like the chocolate chip cookie market, will experience a decrease in the supply curve, as chocolate is no longer as available as before. From the chocolate producers' perspective, they will increase the production of chocolate, as the prices are higher now and they can make more of a profit. Therefore, they will increase the allocation of resources towards the production of chocolate (like machinery, land for plantations, etc).

The article Catfish Farmers Fight Fish Glut and High Fee Prices centered on the left shift in demand for catfish. There has been a steady decline in the demand for catfish in the last decade, causing its demand curve to keep shifting left. Last year, the supply of catfish was low which in turn led to higher prices (due to its scarcity). These higher prices led people to substitute (determinant of demand) catfish with other goods such as inexpensive imports or similar species of fish. The catfish industry has not been able to recover. This year (2012) the supply of catfish has managed to surpass the demand. The high supply led to cheaper catfish costs this year, which in theory should have led to more demand, however people seem to be sticking with their substitutes despite the price change. The feed prices for catfish (feed being a factor of production) are at an all-time high which is causing farmers to suffer; with high costs of production and low prices, they are receiving little profit. With the whole industry suffering, the government has decided to purchase 10 million dollars' worth of catfish hoping to act as a positive determinant of demand (trying to shift the demand curve to the right). This has not had a great effect on the catfish industry and people are starting to question its value; whether people are willing to buy catfish. The declining of this industry has already led to many catfish ponds being replaced with new crops.

This article was about the decrease in demand for catfish due to substitution and a change in taste and preferences by consumers. This has caused the demand curve to shift to the left. Because it has shifted left, the price of catfish has decreased therefore signaling that catfish is not as scarce as it used to be and its value has decreased. How have consumer incentives been impacted by this? Because the price has decreased and the good has become less valuable, people would be more inclined to buy it due to the lowered price. How would producers be impacted by this? As demand has decreased the price has decreased, and the lower the price the lower the quantities of goods firms are willing to supply. Therefore the supply of catfish will decrease. This demand shift will have a negative effect on substitute markets as consumers may find the price of catfish cheaper which may lead them to switch from their product to catfish. Lastly, how will this impact resource allocation? As there is a decrease of demand, therefore a decrease in supply, less resources will be used for the catfish industry and invested in other more profitable markets.

This article describes the effect of price ceilings on goods in Asia. Most countries in Asia have set caps to petrol prices and only seldom raised these. Commentators argue that if price of petrol does not rise with the price of the crude oil in the world, consumers in Asia (where the price for petrol is low) will use up so much that the price of petrol will increase too much and harm the economy rather than help it. In China foods have been monitored as well. Price have a ceiling and if this is to be raise the company must seek approval of the government. This is only a temporary answer to the problem of keeping prices low.

This is an article on the prices of food and the way this affects the supply. Since the year 2012 has been a very warm year, there have been major draughts throughout the world. This article although focuses on the market in America. The draughts have left a major decrease in the production of products. The government's forecast states that the prices of beef would rise 4-5%. Professional analysts although also said that they do not believe that people therefore start buying less, on the other hand they said that it might affect the economic growth over the next years.

This article describes trends in supply of food. In summer 2012, being much hotter than usual and causing the biggest drought in half a century, are causing rises in prices. Groceries such as milk, beef, chicken and pork are expected to rise in price due to the record-breaking weather. Crops, such as corn, of which 88 percent were affected, are to go through major change. General increase of food goods will cause a shift of the curve to the left.

The Article talks about the fact that prices for agricultural products will rise in 2013 due to a heat wave in 2012. This means that the warmest year yet; 2012, will impact the supply of agricultural goods. As there will be less supply, the prices of agricultural goods will increase by up to 5% of goods such as beef and pork. In addition, as the US is a large exporter of agricultural goods, expert say that there has to be a solution to make sure that the global food prices will not spike. Due to the fact that there is a reduction of supply, the supply shift will shift left or upwards. Therefore, there will be less produced at each price and the new equilibrium price will be higher than before. In addition, there will also be fewer goods demanded due to the higher price.

This article discusses the reasons which have resulted in a fall of fertilizer demand in India. The author states that the demand for fertilizer will drop 1/5  from 54.6 million tons  to 24 million tons by 2013. Additionally companies supplying fertilizers to the public have already experienced the first signs of decreasing demand and have been confronted with 50% decrease in potash consumption and a 30% decrease in the phosphate consumption.  Indian Companies supplying fertilizer had raised their prices the previous year due to record sales however these prices are now representing one of the key reasons for the decrease in consumption. India has experienced unpredictable rainfall this year meaning that farmers were unable to determine when they should  apply fertilizer. They knew that if they applied the expensive fertilizer without rainfall in the following days , the fertilizer would be wasted and therefore the farmer would have made a big loss. This has resulted in a decline in fertilizer consumption as farmers are not willing to take this large financial risk as the price for fertilizer is so high they will not be able to afford the economic consequences if the fertilizer is not applied at the correct time.  This links into our classwork as this scenario shows an ideal example of the law of demand. The law of demand states that as a price of a product rises the demand for it will decrease. In the article the demand for fertilizer falls as the price for fertilizer rises. 

This article tells us that fertilizer is become less scarce in India as the demand for fertilizer decreased. This means that less products are being consumed and therefore their is a surplus of the good on the market. Because the price for fertilizer was so high farmers have decided to invest the money in other products which will benefit their crops. The consumers will wait for the price to decrease before they start consuming fertilizer again. Producers will now decrease production and will sell their product at lower prices. As the demand for fertilizer has increased firms are not making as much profit and therefore they will shift their resource allocation to more profitable products.

This article addresses a recent issue which has impacted many US citizens living along the Gulf Coast. It discusses  the impact that Hurricane Isaac has had on the price of oil and gas in the past couple of days. The national oil and gas prices have risen by 5 cents in one day. Areas which were most affected include Ohio, Indiana and Illinois where prices rose by up to 14 cents.  This increase in gas and oil prices can be blamed on the destructive affects of Hurricane Isaac. Isaac has flooded the oil hub located along the Gulf Coast and has shutdown a main pipeline in the mid-west. This has created a limited supply of oil and gas. Now that oil and gas companies can produce less they have driven up the gas and oil prices to compensate for the lesser quantity of gas and oil sold. This relates to what we are studying in class as it illustrates how scarcity influences the price. A product retains a higher value as it becomes  scarcer. Oil has now become a more scarce resource in the US and therefore the prices have risen.

very constructive analysis of the problem. You seem very intelligent pascal.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission expects to include a temporary 3G price benchmark for voice and date service by mid-December of 2012. The secretary general stated that this price ceiling will apply to 3G operators running wireless broadband service on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum plus TOT Plc and CAT Telecom. This regulation will slash the pricing of 3G service by at least 15% from the current price which will largely benefit the consumers of 3G. However, the suppliers and telecommunications organizations will not be satisfied with this new price ceiling as they will be losing profits due to lower prices. As a result, less 3G will be supplied.  

India is looking to expand the price controls they have on drugs. This would apply not only to generic medicines, but also to patented drugs. Drug companies fear this decision, as they feel that India is not protecting their intellectual property enough already. The secretary of India's Pharmaceuticals Department, Kalha, states that they need to make expensive drugs available/affordable to the poorer citizens. Bayer AG and India are in a patent conflict. India's patent authority required that the German company, Bayer, issues a license, which allows Indian generic- drug companies to sell a less expensive copy of Bayer's patented cancer drug, Nexavar. The reason for this order was due to the expensive prices of the drug and India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board are arguing the case and expecting a ruling very soon. With the price controls on the drugs, the poorer citizens would have a fairer chance and curing their sicknesses, as they would be able to afford the medication for it. So far India has 74 set prices on generic medicines but is wanting to increase this number to 348. This high amount of price control has not been seen since 1979! The Indian government believes that the prices of drugs shouldn't be driven by market forces but should be regulated instead. However, so far there are no formal regulations to the plan of the price controlling yet, as the government is still deciding of final opinions. By restricting the prices of drugs, foreign pharmaceutical companies might become upset. Tapan Ray, the director general of the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers (internationally based) of India spoke: " any price control in that area will stifle [research and development] initiatives seriously, adversely affecting patients' interests in the long run". Novartis is a Swiss drug maker and it has been fighting for a patent on its cancer drug, Glivec, in India. In 2006 India rejected Novartis' patent application, and since then Novartis has been fighting

This article is about Chinese oil supply and how China is attempting to overtake the United States in yearly oil productions. It is an example of a supply article, because it speaks of how lower prices directly relate to supply. It also speaks of how both China and India are putting a lot of money into foreign oil resources, hoping for the future. Looking forward, if China continues in its current footsteps, it will be obtaining the most oil in the world, and not only from domestic resources, but mainly foreign ones.

Analysis This article about oil prices and supply in China, relates to what we spoke of in class, because some of the key elements of supply and demand are included. The main issue of the article is Chinas oil supply, along with its demand for oil. China has a generous supply of oil from its own resources, whilst she is still trying to acquire a lot of oil from foreign sources. China is also attempting to up her quantities of oil to beat the United States within the next couple of years, and by 2020, China is to be the country that will be obtaining the largest quantities of oil. The article is related to our class topic of supply, because as China plans to sink its prices for oil, the supply, or quantities should go up with time. This is exactly what was discussed in class and is shown on supply curves or graphs.

Explain what you think is happening to the equilibrium quantity and price and what it means for signalling, incentives, and resource allocation. China has made constant attempts at increasing its oil supplies, which would lead to lower oil prices and economic growth. The equilibrium quantity of oil will increase and therefore the prices will be lowered. A higher supply of oil signals lower prices for both the producers and consumers. China will try to probably keep the price up, and the consumers will look for a substitute, or try to ration the good. Although, if the consumers are willing to buy at the old price, while the suppliers gain in resources, there will be a producer surplus. In other words, the producers, China, will gain more than they could be gaining if the consumers were to adjust their standards.

The United States has had its worst draught in half a century, the Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack predicts that the corn yield is the lowest since 1995 and that prices of corn and soyabeans will rise in price by 20-25 percent unless there will be more rain. The Agricultural Department estimates that the general food prices with rise between 3 and 4 percent. In the Midwest the average production was reduced by 60 percent according to the Johnson County Farm Bureau.

In this case the supply on the curve would decrease and therefore the prices would increase and scarcity would also increase. Consumers would ration their consumption of food because it has increased in price. The article particularly states that the price of corn and soyabeans will increase significantly, therefore consumers might buy less goods from the corn and soyabean market and might consume in meat products because of the rise in food prices. The producer would eventually start supplying more when the draught is over for next years harvest, so there would be a shift in resource allocation through an increase investment in agriculture in the years after the draught due to the rise in price.

This is an article on the demand of sugar. As the International Sugar Organization has stated, that there is a deficit of 15 million tons in the production. It is stating: "Stocks are currently so low, says the ISO, that even next year's harvest is unlikely to restore reserves to a healthy level." This could make people nervous and push them to buying a big amount of the product now. Since the product might become scare in the future, the prices would rise and therefore people would buy a surplus of the product at the current price. The principal of  expectations of the future price would be touched.

Changes in equilibrium: Since the expectation of the future price principle is addressed, the demand curve shifts to the right. Therefore there is a higher demand for sugar, due to the fact that sugar is becoming more scarce. As a result of that, the producers have an incentive to produce more and raise the price, as they realize that the demand has increased. Consumers may then substitute or ration, as the price has increased and they might not be willing or able to buy sugar at this price. As a result of the points above, there would be more resources used to produce sugar even though it is becoming more scarce.

Floods have destroyed of up to 7 million tones of rice in Thailand, and therefore greatly decreasing the supply. Many of the farmers will greatly suffer due to the fact that they get half as much income as they normally would. Due to the supply shock of rice, the price raised a little bit. There is a supply shock in rice in Thailand and therefore the supply curve shifts to the left, increasing the price and decreasing the demand. As the price is higher for every quantity supplied, the producer have less incentive to produce more as they have a smaller profit margin and therefore they decrease production. At the same time, the demand will decrease as the price is higher.

Liam Henderson, the Administrator of the Office Price Administration and Civilian Supply, is looking to impose a price ceiling on cotton yarn. This was announced on May 18th. He will impose this price ceiling because the conferences with the industry were not successful in producing results.

The government in the Philippines will impose a price ceiling on essential drug products that are overpriced. This was announced by the Department of Health (DOH). Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the President is to sign an order that covers the lowering of prices on six or seven drugs. The firms refused to cut the prices in half, but the DOH recommended for price reduction. Overall, the prices were cut by about 30 to 35 percent.

As the supply of diamonds keeps becoming scarcer, the demand for diamonds is increasing greatly. Global factors affecting the large demand for diamonds are increase in consumer wealth, better marketing tactics, western influence, and future value/prices. In India specifically where the population growth rate reached over 25 % - which has also led to the rise of a middle class - diamonds are now being seen as a "status symbol", or as a way to show off, the demand for diamonds is increasing quickly. China has as well due to strategically improved marketing tactics and western influences increased its use of diamond wedding rings up to 40 % of all women. As diamond prices are higher than a few years ago, diamonds can be seen as worthy to invest in because of their increasing value and finite supply. 

The world demand for diamond keeps increasing signaling that diamonds are becoming scarcer and scarcer. Producers will therefore increase the prices of diamonds as it is a limited source, producers will also however try to find more diamonds so that the resource isn't as limited. Depending on the consumer's income, demand for diamonds will decrease with higher prices. Consumers will also switch to an alternative market - an increase in demand for other stones, gems - as their behavior will change. Consumers will also ration diamonds and if purchasing it, purchase it in lower amounts.

G-7 call on oil-producing countries to increase their oil output in order to prevent high oil prices. The G-7 countries are prepared to call upon the International Energy Agency in order "to take appropriate action to ensure that the  market is fully and timely supplied." The IEA's countries supplied 60 million barrels of crude after the Libyan output was disrupted after the armed uprising. Oil prices have advanced 24 percent since reaching a 2012 low in June as stockpiles fell. U.S. authorities haven't contacted the IEA on the use of emergency oil supplies.  The U.S. has 727 million barrels of petroleum in reserve. Rising consumer prices have dented consumer confidence in gasoline, threatening to curb spending that accounts for 70 percent of the world's largest economy. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by 23.5 cents this month. 

Since May 2012, the price of crude oil has fallen from $106/barrel to $78/barrel. For the first time in over a decade, the supply of crude oil has exceeded the demand for it, meaning that the price for crude oil is likely to drop even more. The reason for this increased supply has to do with technological advancements which have enhanced the production of crude oil. Some of these technological advancements include the use of long-reach horizontal well bore technology and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. However, the price of oil cannot drop below the production costs for too long, otherwise, oil firms would go out of business. It is predicted in the article that the price for oil will not drop below $72/barrel, as the production of crude oil is currently at about $60/barrel. From the article, it can be deduced that the massive increase in supply of crude oil is due to technological productivity, which is allowing for far more oil to be supplied.

Weather disruptions and rising energy expenses have increased grain costs at record high. Current supplies may be ample to start unrest caused by the high food prices. With droughts in the Soviet Union and weak monsoon rains in India, corn and soybean prices last month exceeded records. It is said that U.S consumers might need to pay 3 to 4 percent more on food next year because of the effect droughts have on store shelves. Places such as the middle east and North Sub-Saharan Africa are at a great risk since most of their products are imported. Because of this supply shock, there is a negative shift along the supply line as supplies are becoming more expensive. With the addition of governmental intervention such as taxes, firms will have a much lower profit this year on grain supplies.Also there will be less products for the firms to sell. Not only does this affect firms but as stated before, the world should be ready for a food price increase in the coming year.

Becuase of weather changes, there is a scarcity issue in the amount of food that his growing around the world. In economic terms, this means that the supply curve has shifted to the left created a new Equilibrium point. Because of this, the price has increased as the good is more scarce and of course, the supply has decreased. This means that the demand for the good has decreased and consumers have to ration their food even more. Because of this change in supply, there are less resources on the market so because of this scarcity issue, the prices have to go up so that producers get some sort of income. Unfortunately, this means that the consumers have little or no marginal benefit as the price increases. The demand for the good is still high as everyone wants to be able to buy good but unfortunately the price is too high and consumers are not able to buy the product. The marginal benefit decreases for both the consumer and the producer.

This article relates to the idea of demand because in the article it talks about the growing quantity demanded in the Coffee market. Since the Coffee market is expending so rapidly the price of the coffee is expected to increase rapidly. The larger the cofee market becomes the more the demand curve will shift, eventually the quantity demanded will decrease because the price does not seen worth it anymore for customers

Because the demand on coffee is increasing there is a threat that the product will have an increase of price soon because it will become very scarce. since the demand on the product is so high that the consumers have indicated that they want the coffee. Producers have an incentive to produce more coffee. If the producers are not able to keep the high amount of supply up than prices will rise and the supply line will shift to the left indicating that the price will increase and the scarcity has increased as well. Other markets may suffer as well from the increased of scarcity because the demand on complimentary goods will increase as well if the demand on coffee stays high.