Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services,[1] or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time. There are many forms of rationing, although rationing by price is most prevalent.[2]: 8–12
Rationing is often done to keep price below the
A reason for setting the price lower than would clear the market may be that there is a shortage, which would drive the market price very high. High prices, especially in the case of necessities, are undesirable with regard to those who cannot afford them. Traditionalist economists argue, however, that high prices act to reduce waste of the scarce resource while also providing incentive to produce more.
Rationing using
Authorities which introduce rationing often have to deal with the rationed goods being sold illegally on the black market. Despite the fact that rationing systems are sometimes necessary as the only viable option for societies facing severe consumer goods shortages, they are usually extremely unpopular with the general public, as they enforce limits on individual consumption.[3][4][5]
Civilian rationing
Rationing for civilians has most often been instituted during wartime. For example, each person may be given what's known as a "ration coupon" allowing them to purchase a certain amount of a product each month. Rationing often includes food and other necessities for which there is a shortage, including materials needed for the war effort such as rubber tires, leather shoes, clothing, and fuel.
Rationing of food and water may also become necessary during an emergency, such as a natural disaster or terror attack.
In the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has established guidelines for rationing food and water when replacements are not available. According to FEMA standards, every person should have a minimum of 1 US quart (0.95 L) per day of water, and more for children, nursing mothers, and the ill.[6]
Origins
Military sieges have often resulted in shortages of food and other essentials. In such circumstances, the rations allocated to an individual are often determined based on age, sex, race or social standing. During the Siege of Lucknow (part of the Indian Rebellion of 1857) a woman received three-quarters of a man's food ration. Children received only half.[7]: 71 During the Siege of Ladysmith in the early stages of the Boer War in 1900 white adults received the same food rations as soldiers while children received half that. Food rations for Indian people and black people were significantly smaller.[8]: 266–272
The first modern rationing systems were imposed during the First World War. In Germany, suffering from the effects of the British blockade, a rationing system was introduced in 1914 and was steadily expanded over the following years as the situation worsened.[9] Although Britain did not suffer from food shortages, as the sea lanes were kept open for food imports, panic buying towards the end of the war prompted the rationing of first sugar and then meat.[10] It is said to have benefited the overall health of the country,[11] through the "levelling of consumption of essential foodstuffs".[12] To assist with rationing, ration books were introduced on 15 July 1918 for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar. During the war, average caloric intake decreased only three percent, but protein intake six percent.[11]
Food rationing appeared in Poland after the First World War, and ration stamps were in use until the end of the Polish–Soviet War.
Second World War
Rationing became common during the
Rationing on a scientific basis was pioneered by
In 1939, they tested whether the United Kingdom could survive with only domestic food production if U-boats ended all imports. Using 1938 food-production data, they fed themselves and other volunteers a limited diet, while simulating the strenuous wartime physical work Britons would likely have to perform. The scientists found that the subjects' health and performance remained very good after three months. They also headed the first ever mandated addition of vitamins and minerals to food, beginning with adding calcium to bread. Their work became the basis of the wartime austerity diet promoted by the Minister of Food, Lord Woolton.[15]
The British public's wartime diet was never as severe as in the Cambridge study because German U-boats failed to halt trans-Atlantic supply,[16] but rationing improved the health of British people: infant mortality declined and life expectancy rose. This was because everyone had access to a varied diet with enough nutrients.[17][18]
The first commodity to be controlled was petrol. On 8 January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. This was followed by successive rationing schemes for meat, tea, jam, biscuits,
In May 1941, Woolton appealed to Americans to reduce consumption of certain foods (dairy, sugar canned salmon and meat) so more of those could go to the United Kingdom.[22] The Office of Price Administration (OPA) warned Americans of potential gasoline, steel, aluminum and electricity shortages.[23] It believed that with factories converting to military production and consuming many critical supplies, rationing would become necessary if the country entered the war. It established a rationing system after the attack on Pearl Harbor.[24] In June 1942 the Combined Food Board was set up to coordinate the worldwide supply of food to the Allies, with special attention to flows from the U.S. and Canada to Britain.
American civilians first received ration books—War Ration Book Number One, or the "Sugar Book"—on 4 May 1942,
The work of issuing ration books and exchanging used stamps for certificates was handled by some 5,500 local ration boards of mostly volunteers. As a result of the gasoline rationing, all forms of automobile racing, including the Indianapolis 500, were banned.[28] All rationing in the United States ended in 1946.[29]
In the
Rationing was also introduced to a number of British dominions, and colonies, with rationing of clothing imposed in Australia, from 12 June 1942, and certain foodstuffs from 1943. Canada rationed tea, coffee, sugar, butter and mechanical spares, between 1942 and 1947. The Cochin, Travancore and Madras states, of
Many countries had gasoline rationing that determined how much gasoline could be filled in a fuel tank, depending on whether the driver was essential to the war effort.[citation needed]
Peacetime rationing
Civilian peacetime rationing of food has been employed after natural disasters, during contingencies, or after failed governmental economic policies regarding production or distribution, as well as due to extensive austerity programs implemented to cut or restrict public spending in countries where the rationed goods previously relied on government procurement or subsidies, as was the case in Israel.
In the
Some centralized planned economies introduced peacetime rationing systems due to food shortages in the postwar period. North Korea and China did so in the 1970s and 1980s, as did Romania during Ceausescu's rule in the 1980s, the Soviet Union in 1990–1991, and from 1962–present in Cuba.[34]
From 1949 to 1959, Israel was under a regime of austerity, during which rationing was enforced. At first, only staple foods such as cooking oil, sugar, and margarine were rationed, but it was later expanded, and eventually included furniture and footwear. Every month, each citizen would get food coupons worth six Israeli pounds, and every family would be allotted food. The average Israeli diet was 2,800 calories a day, with additional calories for children, the elderly, and pregnant women.
Following the 1952
Petroleum products were rationed in many countries following the
Poland enacted rationing in 1981 to cope with economic crisis. The rationing system initially encompassed most of the population's daily necessities, but was gradually phased out over time, with the last ration being abolished in 1989.[36]
Rationing in Cuba for basic goods was enacted in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had previously subsidised the island nation's economy. Rationing started being phased out in the year 2000 at the end of the "special period", as Cuba had shifted to a more diversified and self-sustaining economy. Rationing, however, was not fully abolished and instead turned into an alternative way to purchase goods, in addition to the markets. This makes a curious departure from classical rationing, as during the 2001–2019 period, the rationing system was used in addition to, instead of as a replacement for regular markets. Cubans would be able to buy a certain amount of items at 'liberated' prices using ration coupons at a significantly reduced rate, while still being able to purchase more at regular market prices. This 'liberated' system persisted even during Cuba's period of economic growth and relative prosperity during the early and mid 2010s and enjoyed considerable popularity among the island's citizens. Cuba later re-introduced a classical limiting rationing system in 2019, following the imposition of strict sanctions on the island by US President Donald Trump, as well as the collapse of petroleum shipments from Venezuela, which was facing its own economic troubles at that time. Cuba's president pitched the new system as significantly more lenient than the 1991–2000 "special period", though admitted that it would negatively affect consumption.[37][38][39][40]
Short-term rationing for gas and other fuels was introduced in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.[41]
In April 2019, Venezuela announced a 30-day electricity rationing regime in the face of power shortages.[42][43]
For a few years during a series of droughts in California (from 2015 to 2019), the California State Water Resources Control Board had mandatory water-use restrictions.[44][45][46]
In 2021, Sri Lanka, facing a major economic crisis, is considering introducing food rationing.[47][48][49][50] According to The Hindu, "President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called in the army to manage the crisis by rationing the supply of various essential goods."[48]
In 2023, Iran began the National Credit Network mechanism.[51]
Refugee aid rations
Aid agencies, such as the
According to Article 20 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees refugees shall be treated as national citizens in rationing schemes when there is a rationing system in place for the general population.
Other types
Health-care rationing
As the British Royal Commission on the National Health Service observed in 1979, "whatever the expenditure on health care, demand is likely to rise to meet and exceed it". Rationing health care to control costs is regarded[citation needed] as an explosive issue in the US, but in reality health care is rationed everywhere. In places where a government provides healthcare, rationing is explicit. In other places people are denied treatment because of personal lack of funds, or because of decisions made by insurance companies. The American Supreme Court approved paying doctors to ration care, stating that there must be "some incentive connecting physician reward with treatment rationing".[54] Shortages of organs for donation forces the rationing of organs for transplant even when funding is available.
Cultural rationing
Credit rationing
Credit rationing describes a situation wherein a bank limits the supply of loans, even when it has enough funds to loan, and the provision of loans has not yet equaled the demand of prospective borrowers. Changing the price of the loans (interest rate) does not balance loan demand and supply.[56]
Carbon rationing
Personal carbon trading refers to proposed
Personal carbon trading is sometimes confused with
Rationing mechanisms
The purpose of rationing is to guarantee a minimum of some resource or to impose a maximum limit on its use. (The latter is the case with carbon rationing, where the scarcity is artificial). Usually, the government determines a fair ration, for example, one proportional to the number of family members. If participants possess different rights to a portion (even when they have the same need) and there is not enough for everyone, then one of the many algorithms for solving the bankruptcy problem may apply.[57]
Sweden from 1919 to 1955 and Finland from 1944 to 1970, also Estonia from 1 July 1920 to 31 December 1925 sought to limit the consumption of alcohol by rationing with Bratt System, where each household was given a booklet (motbok in Sweden, viinakortti in Finland, tšekisüsteem in Estonia), where after each purchase of alcoholic beverages, a stamp was added, based on the amount of alcohol bought. If the buyer had reached their monthly ration, they would have to wait until next month to buy more.[58][59] The rations were based on gender, income, wealth and social status, with unemployed people and welfare recipients not being allowed to buy any alcohol at all. In addition, since the motboks were distributed per household, not per person, wives had to share their household allowance with their husbands, and in fact thus got nothing at all. People often sought to circumvent the rationing by making frequent use of friends or even strangers' booklets, for example by rewarding a young woman with a dinner out in return for the other party consuming most or all of the alcohol incurring the stamps. Alcohol rationing was eventually abolished in Sweden with the opening of state-owned Systembolaget liquor stores, where people could buy alcoholic beverages without limit.
At other times, the ration can only be estimated by the beneficiary, such as a factory for which energy is to be rationed. In such cases, a mechanism is needed to discourage misreporting the needs or wants (i.e., to meet strategy-proofness). Suppose every participant reports an ideal ration. For so-called uniform rationing, each ration is set to the minimum of the participant's ideal ration and a cap, the cap being determined so that the sum of the rations equals the amount available. So, loosely speaking, the participant asking least will be served first. This mechanism is strategy-proof, avoids unnecessary waste (Pareto optimality) and equally treats equals (anonymity.) In fact, it is the only such mechanism.[60] (Anonymity in this statement can be replaced by envyfreeness). For the redistribution of scarce goods to demanders by suppliers, see non-monetary microeconomies.
For smooth supply chain management the supplies may be rationed,[61] which is sometimes referred to as the rationing game.[62] The references mentioned here are a small sample of the literature about rationing inventories.[63]
See also
- Basic income
- Colorado River Compact
- Food bank
- Food stamps
- Grain rationing in China
- Rationing in India
- 2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran
- Military rations
- Rationing in Nicaragua
- Rationing in the Soviet Union
- Rationing in the United Kingdom
- Rationing in the United States
- Road space rationing
- Salt lists
- Chile under Allende
References
- ^ "Rationing". The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th ed.). 1994.
government policy consisting of the planned and restrictive allocation of scarce resources and consumer goods, usually practiced during times of war, famine or some other national emergency.
- ISBN 978-1-59558-884-5. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Life on the Home Front; Rationing: A Necessary But Hated Sacrifice". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Charman, Terry (22 March 2018). "How the Ministry of Food managed food rationing in World War Two". Museum Crush. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ "Food and Water in an Emergency" (PDF). FEMA.
- ^ Inglis, Julia Selina (1892). The Siege of Lucknow: A Diary. London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co.
- ^ Nevinson, Henry Wood (1900). Ladysmith: The Diary of a Siege. New Amsterdam Book Co.
- ISBN 978-0313298806.
- ISBN 978-1136931864.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4058-1252-8.
- ^ Beckett attributes this quotation (page 382) to Margaret Barnett, but does not give further details.
- ^ ISBN 978-0099521129.
- ^ McCance, Robert Alexander; Widdowson, Elsie May (1940). The Chemical Composition of Foods. Medical Research Council (GB) Special Report Series, no. 235. London: H.M. Stationery Office. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ a b Elliott, Jane (25 March 2007). "Elsie – mother of the modern loaf". BBC News.
- ^ Dawes, Laura (24 September 2013). "Fighting fit: how dietitians tested if Britain would be starved into defeat". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ "Wartime Rationing helped the British get healthier than they had ever been". 21 June 2004. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ^ "History in Focus: War – Rationing in London WWII". Retrieved 20 January 2013.
- ISBN 0-85112-519-0.
- ^ Calder, Angus (1969). The People's War: Britain 1939–45. New York, Pantheon Books. pp. 276–277.
- ^ Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1946). Fisheries in war time: report on the sea fisheries of England and Wales by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Years 1939–1944 inclusive. H.M. Stationery Office.
- ^ "Woolton Asks Sacrifices by U.S. To Build Food Surplus for Britain; Minister Urges Reduction in Use of Milk, Sugar, Cheese, Meat and Canned Salmon -Calls Situation Now 'Secure'". The New York Times. 31 May 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
- ^ ""Creamless Days?" / The Pinch". Life. 9 June 1941. p. 38. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ a b c Kennett, 1985 p 133, 137-138
- ^ a b "Sugar: U.S. consumers register for first ration books". Life. 11 May 1942. p. 19. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ "Coffee Rationing". Life. 30 November 1942. p. 64. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ "Rationed Goods in the USA During the Second World War". Ames Historical Society. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014.
- ^ "Historic Pittsburgh: Chronology". University of Pittsburgh.
- ^ "World War II Rationing". Online Highways.
- ^ "New Zealand Official Yearbook 1946".
- ^ "Rationing of New Zealand-Grown Foods | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Availability of Butter Coupons. Gisborne Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 16 December 1949. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Rationing starts as sugar shortage looms". The Guardian. 9 July 1974. p. 3.
- ^ "FE482/FE482: Overview of Cuba's Food Rationing System".
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ISSN 1556-4789.
- ^ Haven, Paul (7 November 2009). "Cuba cuts back on rationed products". Boston.com. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ "Cuba to widen food rationing as supply crisis bites". Deutsche Welle. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ "Venezuela's Maduro announces electricity rationing amid power cuts". South China Morning Post. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ IANS (1 April 2019). "Electricity rationing plan announced in Venezuela". Business Standard India. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Stephanie Koons, California's drought is over, but water conservation remains a 'way of life', AccuWeathey (July 10, 2019).
- ^ Romero, Ezra David (16 July 2021), "Drought-Stricken California Hasn't Mandated Statewide Water Restrictions. Here's Why", KQED.
- ^ Pandey, Samyak (5 September 2021). "How Sri Lanka's overnight flip to total organic farming has led to an economic disaster". ThePrint. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ a b Perumal, Prashanth (6 September 2021). "Explained - What caused the Sri Lankan economic crisis?". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ Jayasinghe, Amal (1 September 2021). "Sri Lanka organic revolution threatens tea disaster". Phys.org. Omicron Limited. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Sri Lanka walks back fertiliser ban over political fallout fears". France 24. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "وزارت کار خبر داد: گسترش اقتصاد کوپنی در ایران" [The Ministry of Labor announced the expansion of the coupon economy in Iran]. Voice of America (in Persian). 27 June 2023.
- ^ "FAQs | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme". Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- ^ "WFP Forced To Reduce Food Rations To Refugees In Kenya". UN World Food Programme. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "The Nation: The 'R' Word; Justice Souter Takes on a Health Care Taboo". The New York Times. 18 June 2000. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^
ISBN 9780155003859. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
[...] there is also cultural rationing, with strict official control over what is published and performed in China, so that, particularly in recent years, there is a very narrow range of cultural entertainment from which all strata of society have to pick.
- JSTOR 1802787.
- doi:10.1111/1468-0262.00126. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ Bjorkman, Jenny (15 June 2018). "Motboken – hatad av många". Slakthistoria.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ "Alkoholikeeldudest Eestis". Postimees (in Estonian). 8 November 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- S2CID 154970988.
- ^ Richard, Gilbert J.; Klemperer, Paul. "An equilibrium theory of rationing" (PDF). RAND Journal of Economics. 31: 1–21.
- SSRN 1240173.
- ^ "Find Research Output". Eindhoven University of Technology. Retrieved 3 July 2021.[not specific enough to verify]
- Kennett, Lee (1985). For the duration...: the United States goes to war, Pearl Harbor – 1942. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-18239-4– via Internet Archive.
Further reading
- Allocation of Ventilators in an Influenza Pandemic, Report of New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, 2007.
- Matt Gouras. "Frist Defends Flu Shots for Congress." Associated Press. October 21, 2004.
- Elster, Jon, ed. (1995). Local justice in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. LCCN 94039623.
- Allen, Harold Don. Canada rationing, 1942-1947 : a numismatic record. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
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External links
- Are You Ready?: An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness – FEMA
- short descriptions of World War I rationing – Spartacus Educational
- a short description of World War II rationing – Memories of the 1940s
- Ration Coupons on the Home Front, 1942–1945 – Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
- World War II Rationing on the U.S. homefront, illustrated – Ames Historical Society
- Links to 1940s newspaper clippings on rationing, primarily World War II War Ration Books – Genealogy Today
- Tax Rationing
- Recipe for Victory:Food and Cooking in Wartime[not specific enough to verify]
- war time rationing in UK