ECONOMICS (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Supplies such as gasoline, butter, sugar and canned milk were rationed because they needed to be diverted to the war effort. War also disrupted trade, limiting the availability of some goods.

Detailed explanation-2: -Rationing helped to change attitudes-the fact that everyone was restricted to buying a certain amount of goods, created a sense of sharing and cooperation in Britain. It was accepted that the Government was more involved in people’s health and food intake.

Detailed explanation-3: -The aim of rationing was to conserve food supplies, ensure fair distribution and control rising prices caused by food becoming more scarce. For wealthy people these price rises were an inconvenience but for the poor they meant less money to spend on other essentials.

Detailed explanation-4: -Rationing resulted in one serious side effect: the black market, where people could buy rationed items on the sly, but at higher prices. The practice provoked mixed reactions from those who banded together to conserve as instructed, as opposed to those who fed the black market’s subversion and profiteering.

Detailed explanation-5: -Sugar was the first food to be rationed, in the spring of 1942. The war with Japan cut off U.S. imports from the Philippines, and cargo ships from Hawaii were diverted to military purposes. The nation? s supply of sugar was quickly reduced by more than a third.