ECONOMICS LESSON: supply & demand (machetes)
Investigator Adiyasa Dwitama alerts us to a new lesson in economics, specifically on the concept of supply and demand. A July 3, 2007 Reuters report on ABC News says:
Machete market collapses after elections
The price of machetes has halved in parts of Nigeria since the end of general elections in April because demand from thugs sponsored by politicians has subsided.
The state-owned New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) surveyed prices in the north-eastern state of Gombe and found that a good quality machete was now selling for 400 naira ($3.50) compared with 800 naira ($7) before the elections, which were marred by politically motivated violence in many states.
“A price survey on machetes, which served as a popular weapon among political thugs in the state, indicated a drop in the price of the implement,” NAN reported over the weekend….