workplaces and further exacerbation (positive feedback) of staff shortages. Effects Decisions which result in a below-market-clearing price help some people and hurt others. In this case, shortages may be accepted because they theoretically enable a certain portion of the population to purchase a product that they couldn't afford at the market-clearing price. The cost is to those who are willing to pay for a product and either can't, or experience greater difficulty in doing so. In the case of government intervention in the market, there is always a trade-off with positive and negative effects. For example, a price ceiling may cause a shortage, but it will also enable a certain percentage of the population to purchase a product that they couldn't afford at market costs. Economic shortages caused by higher transaction costs and opportunity costs (e.g., in the form of lost time) also mean that the distribution process is wasteful. Both of these factors contribute to a decrease in aggregate wealth. Shortages may or will cause: Black (illegal) and Grey (unregulated) markets in which products that are unavailable in conventional markets are sold, or in which products with excess demand are sold at higher prices than in the conventional market. Artificial controls of demand, such as time (such as waiting in line at queues) and rationing. Non-monetary bargaining methods, such as time (for example queuing), nepotism, or even violence. Panic buying Price discrimination. The inability to purchase a product, and subsequent forced saving. Increase in demand for substitute goods. Deadweight loss due to artificial scarcity; a net loss of economic welfare to society occurs when an artificial limit of supply (by monopolies or oligopolies to maximise profits), limits the number of people who can enjoy the good. Examples Many regions around the world have experienced shortages in the past. Food shortages have occurred in the United States during the Great Depression. Rationing in the United Kingdom and the United States occurred mainly during and after the world wars Potato shortages in the Netherlands triggered the 1917 Potato riots. From 1920 to 1933 during prohibition in the United States, the creation of a black market for liquor was created due to the low supply of alcoholic beverages. During the 1973 oil crisis, during which long lines and rationing was used to control demand. In the former Soviet Union during the 1980s, prices were artificially low by fiat (i.e., high prices were