Extract
In America—perhaps the richest country in the history of the
world—rationing is ubiquitous. Ferrari sports cars are rationed.
Apartments on Central Park West in New York City are rationed. Wine from
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is rationed. Rationing is necessary simply because
there are more people wanting to live on Central Park West, for example, than
there are apartments to house them. Whenever there is scarcity of supply
relative to demand, there must be some means for allocating the goods in
question. For the goods just described, the method of rationing is price.