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CAPACITY UTILIZATION RATE: The ratio of actual production by business sector factories and other productive establishments in the economy to the potential production of these establishments. This rate indicates if our economy's factories are being used as effectively and as fully as possible. Like the unemployment rate, the capacity utilization rate measures how close our economy is to full employment. And like unemployment, this rate moves up and down over the course of a business cycle. During expansions, the rate is near 85 percent (considered full employment), and during contractions, it tends to be in the 70 percent range. In addition to an overall rate, there are also separate rates for manufacturing, mining, and utility industries.
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                           PRICE RATIONING: The distribution or allocation of a limited commodity using markets and prices. Rationing is needed due to the scarcity problem. Because wants and needs are unlimited, but resources are limited, available commodities must be rationed out to competing uses. Markets ration commodities by limiting the purchase only to those buyers willing and able to pay the price. As a general process, rationing is the distribution of a given amount of goods or services among competing users. Price rationing is a method of rationing that allocates the limited quantities of goods and services using markets and prices.Price rationing works like this. If the quantity of a given commodity becomes increasingly limited, then the price rises. Only the buyers most willing and able to buy the commodity, and pay the higher price, obtain the good. The limited quantity is automatically rationed to the highest bidder. Usually EfficientRationing through markets and prices is usually an effective, efficient method of allocating commodities. It works automatically and under the right circumstances, it achieves an efficient allocation of resources. That is, commodities are allocated to those buyers willing to pay the highest price because they receive the greatest satisfaction.Moreover, not only do prices ration existing quantities, they provide incentives to improve resource allocation in the future. That is, society is encouraged to direct resources to the commodities with higher prices, which then increases available quantities in the future. Government RationingSociety has developed two primary methods of rationing (or allocating) limited resources, goods, and services--markets and governments.Governments ration commodities through what can be termed regulatory rationing. That is, governments pass laws that determine who receives what. Any number of criteria can be set for regulatory rationing. For example, each person might receive an equal share or some might receive more based on some determination of need. Regulatory rationing is often used when governments decide that price rationing does not work properly. In particular, a government might deem that the sudden price increase of an essential good like food or gasoline creates undue hardships for the poor. As such, they might establish a system for rationing the commodity using coupons, price ceilings, or some other mechanism that does not involve higher prices.
Recommended Citation:PRICE RATIONING, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 5, 2025].
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BLACK DISMALAPOD
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a dollar discount store seeking to buy either a box of multi-colored, plastic paper clips or several orange mixing bowls. Be on the lookout for broken fingernail clippers.
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Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, was the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson, an accomplished mathematician and economist.
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"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work." -- Peter Drucker, management consultant
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AACT
American Assocation of Commodity Traders
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