I must make a post on the blog. This is what i have so far. Please make critique.
Should i split each paragraph into smaller parts or is it fine how it is?
The Effect of Price Controls In On Supply of Goods.
To analyze this further, we must look at the role of prices in the market. Why do things cost the amount that they do, and who dictates these prices? All things held equal, we see that supply and demand dictate prices. Since goods are scarce, there must be a tradeoff to obtain them; if all goods were scarce, and free, then goods will not exist anymore since they all will be consumed without restriction. Suppose that in a city, the gas prices are very high, probably due to high demand or low supply. If the government takes no action and leaves the market to work, there will be no shortage since less people will try to obtain the gasoline as the supply shortens since the prices rise. Only for the most important uses, will the gasoline be bought for a high price. Let us consider however if the government put a price ceiling on the gasoline. The supply is low and the price is kept as if the supply was high. Consumption will be at the same rate as if the supply of gasoline was high, and thus these people will run into a gasoline shortage. We can see that the first few to buy the gasoline gain the benefit of this government intervention, but the people who did not get to obtain the gasoline were hurt, for there is no more supply. As such, the very government policies that are meant to help people, are hurting them.
Supply, Speculation, and Prices.
"Buy low, sell high"
Basic knowledge of supply and demand shows us that when prices are low, there is either: 1. Low demand, or 2. High supply; high prices are brought about by, 1. High demand, or 2. Low supply. The speculator buys a supply of X goods in areas in which they are lowly priced and sells those goods in areas that are highly priced (low in supply). For example, let us say that city X has an abundant supply of cows and dairy factories, and city Y doesn't. The cost of milk in city X is very low, while in city Y it is very high. The role of the speculator is to seek mere profit. By buying for a low price and selling it at a high price he will gain large returns. A deeper look into this reveals that the speculator is moving the supply from city X to city Y. In turn, city Y benefits from lower prices of milk, while city X's prices rise only by a little (since the supply is already abundant anyway). Eventually, as time goes forward, the constant moving of supply from 1 place to another equilibrates the market. City X and city y's milk supplies are similar, and prices are similar, and hence, speculation merely makes the free market work faster and more efficiently. Speculation has a major role in natural disasters, famines, etc. when there is a major change in the supply of a good, speculators help move the supply of a good. For example, gasoline, from a city that is abundant, to a city in need.
If prices are controlled, lets say that in city Y with low supply, has a high price, and the government puts a price ceiling and makes the price the same as of city X's. City Y will run out of supply very quickly, and since there is no price indicator (it stays the same due to the price ceiling), speculation will not exist, and supply will not be moved about. For the price no longer indicates the supply of the good for it is government controlled. City Y will run into great milk shortages, while city X will have vast amounts of milk that it may not even need.
The problem.
"New Jersey has a tough price gouging law to ensure that profiteers will not take unfair advantage of people at their most vulnerable -- those who have been displaced from their homes, have limited resources, and are seeking fuel, shelter and the basic necessities of life," said Governor Chris Christie.
Chris Christie ie correct when he says that prices rise because of profit seeking stores. However, motives aside, the higher prices lead to even and fair distribution of supply to the consumers. While the profiteer is only seeking a profit by raising prices, he is also instilling an unintended effect upon the economy: fair and even distribution of resources to the consumer.
By imposing his price laws, Governor Chris Christie has hampered the way New Jersey's economy works. This governor sued distributors of goods because of his lack of economic understanding. One cannot simply ignore supply and demand with government regulations. By imposing these regulations the market will no longer function accordingly and distribution of resources will be uneven. Supply will run out in the times of crisis and many people will suffer.
This is the perfect case of unintended consequences.
In short, we can say that speculation aids in the quick equilibration of the market, and if prices are regulated and obstructed, the economy will not work.
“Since people are concerned that ‘X’ will not be provided, ‘X’ will naturally be provided by those who are concerned by its absence.""The sweetest of minds can harbor the harshest of men.”
http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.org
A deeper look into this reveals that the speculator is moving the supply from city X to city Y.
And also moves demand from Y to X.
You keep calling prices an indicator - this is consistent with the usual practice of calling prices "signals" - but they are not only signals. More importanly, higher prices are an incentive to get involved into the trade. Watching the TV news will also provide a signal of low supply in disaster-stricken areas, but it lacks much of the incentive of the prices (except the incentive to help people).
Also, I am not very confortable with very broad meaning of the word "speculator". I know the media use it to denote any profit seeking activity that does not produce something tangible, but technically, most of the cases are better described by "arbitrageur" than "speculator". Though this is probably just nit picking.
Oh, and I think higher prices in disaster-affected areas work on at least three time scales:
In the first paragraph:
if all goods were scarce, and free, then goods will not exist anymore since they all will be consumed without restriction.
I would just provide the standard definition of scarcity here: c.p., when priced at zero, demand exceeds supply. It's not that "the good will not exist".
Chris Christie ie correct when he says that prices rise because of profit seeking stores.
It's not always about seeking more profit. Sometimes stores need to raise their revenues to cover the increased costs of operation after a storm in order to maintain any profit, which is to say not lose money. For example, a store without power will have to get generators to stay open. That costs the store money, so they must raise prices to cover it. If they can't raise prices and they're not in a position to take some losses, they'll stay closed. Another example: If roads are shut down after a storm, it becomes more difficult (and thus expensive) to ship goods. Without being able to raise prices, it could be that shipping companies will lose money by conducting business, hence many of the stores don't get more shipments of goods. Higher prices encourage shipping companies to keep it comin'.
By imposing his price laws, Governor Chris Christie has hampered the way New Jersey's economy works.
Just a note about style here. Try:
Governor Chris Christie has hampered the functioning of New Jersey's economy.
It sounds a lot stronger without "the way...it works," no? Try to put the emphatic words of the sentence at the end.
I have made some purely grammatical, formatting, and rhetorical suggestions below. I think it is a good paper and a little attention to the language in the areas I have made bold will bring out the strongest possible wording and improve your readers' understanding.
Keep a couple of things in mind: two spaces after a period, one after a comma; also, to make your statement as strong as possible, make sure the first and last words in the sentence have strong stress. For an example, look at the last line of your paper. Compare it to my suggestion. Which sounds stronger and more direct to you?
The Effect of Price Controls On The Supply of Goods.
To analyze this further, we must look at the role of prices in the market. Why do things cost the amount that they do, and who dictates these prices?
All things held equal, we see that supply and demand dictate prices. Since goods are scarce, there must be a tradeoff to obtain them; if all goods were scarce, and free, then goods will not exist anymore since they all will be consumed without restriction.
Suppose that in a city, gas demand is high and/or gas supplies are low. If the government takes no action and leaves the market to work, as the supply shortens, the prices will rise. Consumers will buy gasoline for the most important uses only.
Let us consider however if the government puts a price ceiling on the gasoline. The supply is low and so is the price. Consumption will remain high, exacerbating the existing shortage. We can see that the intervention benefits the first buyers at the expense of those who need it most. As such, the very government policies that are meant to help people are hurting them.
"Buy low, sell high": Basic knowledge of supply and demand shows us that when prices are low, there is either: 1) low demand, or 2) high supply; high prices are brought about by either 1) high demand, or 2) low supply. The speculator buys a supply of X goods in areas in which they are low priced (abundant) and sells those goods in areas where they are high priced (low in supply). For example, let us say that city X has an abundant supply of cows and dairy factories, and city Y doesn't. The cost of milk in city X is very low, while in city Y it is very high. The role of the speculator is to seek mere profit. By buying for a low price and selling it at a high price he will gain large returns.
A deeper look into this reveals that the speculator is moving the supply from city X to city Y. In turn, city Y benefits from lower prices of milk, while city X's prices rise only by a little (since the supply is already abundant anyway). Eventually, as time goes forward, the constant movement of supply from one place to another equilibrates the market. City X and city Y's milk supplies will become similar, and prices will become similar; hence, speculation [deleted extra word “merely”] makes the free market work faster and more efficiently.
Speculation has a major role in natural disasters, famines, etc. When there is a major change in the supply of a good, speculators help move the supply of a good, for example, gasoline, from a city that has abundance, to a city in need. To examine the effect of price control, let’s say that city Y with low supply institutes a price cap to make their price the same as of city X. City Y will run out of supply very quickly, and since there is no price indicator (it stays the same due to the price ceiling), speculation will not exist, and supply will not be moved about. The price no longer indicates the supply of the good because it is government controlled. City Y will run into great milk shortages, while city X will have vast amounts of milk that it may not even need.
"New Jersey has a tough price gouging law to ensure that profiteers will not take unfair advantage of people at their most vulnerable -- those who have been displaced from their homes, have limited resources, and are seeking fuel, shelter and the basic necessities of life," said Governor Chris Christie (insert date and occasion).
Governor Christie is correct when he says that prices rise because of profit seeking stores; however, motives aside, as we have seen the higher prices lead to even and fair distribution of supply to the consumers who need it most. While the profiteer is only seeking a profit by raising prices, he is also instilling an unintended effect upon the economy: fair and even distribution of resources to the consumer.
By imposing his price laws, Governor Chris Christie has hampered the way New Jersey's economy works. This governor sued distributors of goods because of his lack of economic understanding. One cannot simply ignore supply and demand in the use of government regulations. By imposing these regulations the market will no longer adjust according to consumer needs and distribution of resources will be uneven. Supply will run out in the times of crisis and many people will suffer.
Speculation aids in the quick equilibration of the market; price regulation obstructs economic recovery.
The trick with stress is a valuable tool. Do you know the pattern of iambic pentameter? Here’s the first line of a Robert Frost sonnet to explain.
He would declare and could himself believe
The stress pattern in iambic pentameter is duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH. It consists of five (that’s what Pentameter refers to) “feet”, or units of syllables. The “foot” in iambic pentameter is called an iamb (duh DUH). The iamb makes a regular rhythm that moves the reader through the line in a certain sprightly way.
Most people subvocalize when they read. So when they read a line where the stresses have been manipulated, they proceed at a rhythm that the author has dictated to them. The strong stresses (DUH) slow them down just a tiny bit compared to the weak stresses (duh).
This is of use to you when writing prose as well. The most important ideas should also be the strongest stress, thereby slowing down the reader at the right point.
Using a stress pattern also lets you increase clarity. Consider your last line the way I rewrote it. This line is a perfect place to use parallelism. There are two ideas you want to present, and you want to indicate that there is a similarity between them of cause/effect. One excellent way to do that is to make the two ideas grammatically similar and present them in an AB,AB format. So I rewrote your sentence:
You see the way the grammar links these two cause/effect scenarios together in the reader’s mind? Notice that the way they are arranged, you tend to stress the important phrases, the ones that are in parallel. These two rhetorical tricks improve readability and clarify the idea in the reader’s mind.
If you had been writing for more subtle effect, you could have arranged the sentence in an AB, BA format as well. This is less in your face, and more artistic. Thus:
Quick market recovery results from speculation, while price regulation exacerbates a crisis.
THank you for the feedback.
I shall post it on voluntaryist reader.
lady saiga, what is your name so i can give you credit for the editing?
Or if you want i shall not name the editor.
Oh! Sorry I didn't see this. My name is Rachel Lindsay, but you don't need to credit me for editing unless you prefer. I appreciate the offer!