Yet another cartoon

Finally got time to post another cartoon.


Recently, the world has been experiencing significant inflation in the prices of many basic products, especially that of foodstuffs -for example, maize, which appeared in the previous cartoon I'd posted.

This cartoon thus depicts a hypothetical scenario occuring due to excessively high inflation rates. The most prominent aspect of the cartoon would be the "Sorry, No Sale" sign placed in front of, what I would presume, a supermarket. Judging from the caption at the top of the cartoon: "Inflation rate hits a 26-year high", we can thus infer that the supermarket, in anticipitation of higher prices in the event that inflation continues to increase, chooses to restrict, or rather, in this case, cut off the supply. It hoards the supplies of the foodstuffs et cetera, waiting for the prices to rise before letting them out so as to maximise revenue. However, ironically, at the entrance of the supermarket, we can see apples and cabbages (or some random veg) - which are perishables, and thus are not suitable for 'hoarding' since they have highly limited and short shelf lives. Hence, it may be possible that the cartoonist is being sarcastic on the issue of the hoarding of goods.

Taking this to a further level of discussion, good hoarding is a undesirable practice, which well, brings about benefits to the suppliers but brings about even greater problems upon the society and the consumers. The hoarding of goods reduces supply, and further drives prices up. Thus there is a huge loss in consumer surplus, and a lack of allocative efficiency. On a more human level, the reduction in supply may lead to shortage in the market, while high prices may lead to fewer people being able to afford the good. This can be especially disastrous if the good in question is an important, basic one - for example rice. In this case, then the government needs to step in and prevent suppliers from engaging in such practices - as is with the rice situation currently.

Moving on, we also see a shopper lamenting that "You know, somehow i expected this". The signficance of this quote is not so much of literally expecting the shops/suppliers to hoard goods during times of inflation, but rather more of bringing across the mindsets of consumers. The quote itself suggests that the shopper has already made preparations in the event of such a scenario. Thus we can link this to the idea of panic buying, in which consumers, fearing that prices will continue to spiral upwards or that supply will run out, stock up on the good(s) in question.

Hence, in its entirety, the cartoon provides a rather good depiction of the mindsets of the consumer and the producer/supplier, abeit with some mockery and sarcasm thrown in.

Zhe Wei