Supply & Demand in Your Life
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In this unit, we learned the basics of economics, and how supply and demand, scarcity and abundance affect the way goods and services exist in the world. Now, let’s talk about it.
According to a recent article in Forbes Magazine, “The demand for additional battery life is so large Pokémon GO is already having an impact on the sales of external batteries and phone cases with extra battery capacity.” Popular portable battery makers told Forbes that the sales of certain products have grown significantly, up to double or triple just in Pokémon GO’s first week in the United States. On a less technological front, coffee prices are up by 13 percent due to increased demand, and the supply of Corvettes is not sufficient to meet the current demand. All of these statements come from headlines from the past three months, indicating that the laws of supply and demand impact everything from your phone to your car to MY coffee. This is the basis for our discussion this week!
Choose an article on a topic (product/good/service) that affects your daily life. Briefly tell us what your article is about. Which aspect of the article’s discussion affects your daily life? What factors do you think are influencing the supply and demand of the product/good/service that is the subject of your article? Include the URL of the Web site where you found the article, so your classmates can access it.
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In order to receive full credit for this assignment, all components of this assignment are due by 11:59pm ET on Sunday, February 12, 2023. You should first contribute a thoughtful post of your own before viewing/commenting on the posts of others. You must respond meaningfully to at least two classmates to receive full credit for this assignment.
This assignment is worth a total of ten (10) points — 6 possible points for your original post, and up to 2 points for each of the two responses to your classmates’ posts. Please reference our Discussion Rubric for more information, and to this guide from MSSU to learn more about what it means to respond meaningfully to a classmates’ post.
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Why the price of eggs, a food staple for breakfast and baked goods, has risen so sharply
Harvest Public Media | By Kendall Crawford
Published January 18, 2023 at 4:00 AM CSTThe above article dives into the recent surge in prices of eggs in the last couple months. Egg prices in the month of January were the highest rising cost out of all food products due to a drop in supply. A deadly avian flu swept through many poultry farms last year, with estimated loss of 44 million hens. With this severe and steep drop in supply of eggs, the prices for them soared and so did all other consumables/products that involved eggs. The article interviews a bakery who struggled with the increase in egg costs and saw a 20% drop in profits.
Various points in the article touched on my daily life as eggs are a staple to my weekly meals. As the article mentions, “eggs are an ‘inelastic demand’ – meaning people are still likely going to buy a carton, no matter the price.” Which rings true in my case, I continued to buy eggs on a regular basis despite the price jumps but I did not realize that many other businesses that I frequent would increase their cost to adjust as well. For example, I enjoy visiting bakeries and breakfast spots – both businesses that use a large amount of eggs in their goods. These places had to adjust their prices to account for the increase in egg costs, so I was not only paying more at the grocery store but also while eating out.
The biggest factor affecting the supply of eggs was the source of where the egg was coming from and the flu that wiped them out. The article mentions that 44 million laying hens died due to the sickness, meaning there would be a dramatic drop in eggs produced. It also mentions that the demand would remain the same and in some cases if we account of holiday seasons where baked goods (cookies, pies, cakes) are popular, the demand was even higher. This drop in supply with the increase in demand leads to the significant price hikes we saw in the last couple of months.
Egg prices have since gone down, though still higher than what they were previously. This is likely due to the slight decrease in demand (holiday surge has passed) and new hens being recuperated but other costs such as preventative measures (disinfection, isolation) and inflation in general are also playing a role in keeping them higher than before.
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link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/business/economy/food-prices-us.html
This article brings awareness on how the increase in food prices are negatively affecting many households, especially people living under difficult means. The prices are getting higher and the portions are getting smaller. As food prices increase it also affects their other cost of living. This is causing people to seek other assistance and make difficult decisions.
This as well affects my daily life because I have to think hard and precise about the food I purchase. I have to think what will last me the longest and I also have to put things back that I was once able to afford. So it becomes comes a thing of what I want vs what I need 24/7. When I use to be able to get both. When you have other expenses you have to take that into consideration as well. So it becomes difficult at times.
The article states that prices won’t be going down any time soon because once the producers get price increases they want to stick to it. It also states that even food banks are taking meat and produce away because it has stretched their budget. So it becomes a system in which of you are already well off finically you’ll have to work even more hours and still may not be able to live and eat comfortably.
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My article discusses about the shortage and supply of PlayStation 5. PlayStation is a widely known gaming console all over the world. It was a massive hit since its first edition release, but it’s been more than 2 years but still there is such a high demand of this product than produced. For a video gamer lover like me, this is a great opportunity for me to talk about this issue.
I’ve been playing games since 2012. I’ve seen a lot of gaming ups and downs till then. Gaming has evolved by a huge margin till then. Consoles like PlayStation, Xbox have played a huge part of this development. Over the course of the year, manufacturers have produced many consoles. The 5th addition of PlayStation came with great capabilities and feature which caught the attention of gamers. Along with that, the manufacturer of PlayStation has decided to release some great looking game with it. Gamers could not wait to get their hands on it. Thus, the demand has risen to the point, they are being unable to supply to product.
This article goes in-dept about why it is being too hard to meet the supply demand. Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer, Hiroki Totoki said Sony is far behind its ability to provide enough units to customers. Take a moment and imagine the hype and demand it has created that till this date it is hard to meet the demand.
I would say feature that attracts the gamers and also the games they release with it are the main reason of this huge demand. If I were asked why would I want a PS5, as a gamer for last 10 years, I would say the because of the futuristic look and the games come with it.
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About last month, as I went by to purchase my usual groceries, I noticed a significant increase in egg supply. For a few seconds, it brought me back to the Covid 19 Pandemic as many products have significantly increased due to the product’s high demand. For the past month, eating eggs for breakfast or sometimes dinner was scratched off my list, and I had to find a substitute.
“Here is why, according to “Fresh Food, High demand, bird flu is scrambling the egg supply chain” a nationwide egg shortage sparked by a deadly avian influenza outbreak is causing empty shelves and soaring prices, promoting some grocers to limit the number of eggs shoppers can purchase. Surprisingly, people are likely to pay the price but, in some cases, will limit the use of this product in recipes, breakfast, lunch, and dinners.
Although we have past the holiday season it will take a while for supplies to normalize. A lot of stores are limiting egg purchases to two cartons per customer. That reminds me of my most recent monthly grocery shopping, Costco had placed a sign over the egg shelves stating, “No more than two counts per person”.
As a result of the high demand and supply of this product, egg prices have drastically increased and now people have to look for ways to reduce their consumption.
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The article I’m using for my source is from Forbes on the global chip shortage. Last summer I was looking to upgrade the graphics card for my computer but was shocked to find out that they were hundreds of dollars above market price due to the shortage. Having a chip shortage affects one of the most crucial part of our day to day lives for those of us that are constantly around and always using technology. It affects our smartphones, computers, and most importantly (having the biggest impact on) the automotive industry. The article helps to breakdown what basically happened and how the chip shortage started. According to the article, when covid first struck, after the lockdowns began and everyone lost their jobs, chip manufacturing companies “were expecting a downfall of purchasing from consumers due to lockdowns and job loss”. Therefore, “Demand increased sooner than expected due to stimulus finds and at-home needs, which left several companies at a loss. A combination of this and shutdowns of semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities during the same time had a significant impact on the availability of chips”. I went through few other articles to find an estimate on when the shortage might end but only found articles estimating production increases to meet demand by earliest 2024. I believe that demand is increasing because we are also increasingly becoming more and more involved with technology and as humans we love the newest fastest gadgets. That plus during the pandemic most people were either at home playing video games on their computers/consoles or traveling around in the new car they bought/rented with their stimulus/unemployment. A lot of the stuff we turned to to survive the boredom and anxiety of the lockdowns required chips, bringing up the demand for it, but chip manufacturing companies had to shut down in turn drastically sinking supply.
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