Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time. There are many forms of rationing, although rationing by price is most prevalent.
Rationing is often done to keep price below the market-clearing price determined by the process of supply and demand in an unfettered market. Thus, rationing can be complementary to price controls. An example of rationing in the face of rising prices took place in the various countries where there was rationing of gasoline during the 1973 energy crisis.
A reason for setting the price lower than would clear the market may be that there is a shortage, which would drive the market price very high. High prices, especially in the case of necessities, are undesirable with regard to those who cannot afford them. Traditionalist economists argue, however, that high prices act to reduce waste of the scarce resource while also providing incentive to produce more.
Rationing using ration stamps is only one kind of non-price rationing. For example, scarce products can be rationed using queues. This is seen, for example, at amusement parks, where one pays a price to get in and then need not pay any price to go on the rides. Similarly, in the absence of road pricing, access to roads is rationed in a first come, first served queueing process, leading to congestion.
Authorities which introduce rationing often have to deal with the rationed goods being sold illegally on the black market. Despite the fact that rationing systems are sometimes necessary as the only viable option for societies facing severe consumer goods shortages, they are usually extremely unpopular with the general public, as they enforce limits on individual consumption.
Civilian rationing
Rationing for civilians has most often been instituted during wartime. For example, each person may be given what's known as a "ration coupon" allowing them to purchase a certain amount of a product each month. Rationing often includes food and other necessities for which there is a shortage, including materials needed for the war effort such as rubber tires, leather shoes, clothing, and fuel.
Rationing of food and water may also become necessary during an emergency, such as a natural disaster or terror attack.
In the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has established guidelines for rationing food and water when replacements are not available. According to FEMA standards, every person should have a minimum of per day of water, and more for children, nursing mothers, and the ill.
Origins
Military sieges have often resulted in shortages of food and other essentials. In such circumstances, the rations allocated to an individual are often determined based on age, sex, race or social standing. During the Siege of Lucknow (part of the Indian Rebellion of 1857) a woman received three-quarters of a man's food ration. Children received only half. During the Siege of Ladysmith in the early stages of the Boer War in 1900 white adults received the same food rations as soldiers while children received half that. Food rations for Indian people and black people were significantly smaller.
The first modern rationing systems were imposed during the First World War. In Germany, suffering from the effects of the British blockade, a rationing system was introduced in 1914 and was steadily expanded over the following years as the situation worsened. Although Britain did not suffer from food shortages, as the sea lanes were kept open for food imports, panic buying towards the end of the war prompted the rationing of first sugar and then meat. It is said to have benefited the overall health of the country, through the "levelling of consumption of essential foodstuffs". To assist with rationing, ration books were introduced on 1918 for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar. During the war, average caloric intake decreased only three percent, but protein intake six percent.
Food rationing appeared in Poland after the First World War, and ration stamps were in use until the end of the Polish–Soviet War.