Natural-Gas Shortage Sets Off Scramble Ahead of Winter

This article describes what happens when increases in demand lead to shortages of natural gas (WSJ, Oct. 2021). Some money quotes follow.

1. "Buyers in Europe, Asia and Latin America are competing for limited supplies of gas, racing to fill tanks and caverns with the fuel before winter hits the Northern Hemisphere.
   
   "Natural gas stocks are alarmingly low around the world, and prices in most places have never been higher after surging to new records in Europe and Asia this week. Demand has jumped as economies have bounced back from pandemic shutdowns ..."
2. "Shippers are diverting tankers to the highest bidder, ..."

The Knowledge Problem

A society of men, free to choose individually, and therefore free to make as many successes or failures as there are choices freely made, is definitely greater than the controlled society, limited to the powers and finite qualities of its collective controlling mind (Cafe Hayak, Oct 2021).

 

"In any case, private boondoggles have one big advantage over public ones: they don’t force uninvolved taxpayers to pay for them" (Cafe Hayek, Oct 2021).

Coal Shortages Push Up Prices

Decreases in supply ➡ shortages ➡ increases in price (WSJ, Oct 2021).

Robots Take Over Italy’s Vineyards as Wineries Struggle With Covid-19 Worker Shortages

Labor shortages => increases in wages and increases in wages => more substitution of labor by machines WSJ Oct. 2021). Do increases in the minimum wage have similar effects?

What happens when disease kills pigs, farmers restore their herds, and then sell in a panic?

Chinese Pig Prices Are No Longer Flying High is a great example of how prices rise when supply decreases and prices fall when supply increases (WSJ, Sep. 2021).

Large Minimum Wage Increases Harm Job Prospects For Young And Less Educated Workers

So says this study by Bourne and Subramaniam (Cato, Sep. 2021). Here are four money quotes.

1. it is theoretically possible that the impact of a minimum wage hike on jobs might take a good time to take effect, with an increase in hourly labor costs dampening future job creation for affected groups rather than leading to direct layoffs.
2. the fact that a small minimum wage hike has small employment effects doesn’t mean that much larger future hikes would too.
3. employment effects of relatively large minimum wage increases accumulate gradually over time
4. larger minimum wage hikes have negative employment consequences for those most affected—in this case the young and less-educated.