USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Rationing is the limiting of goods or services that are in high demand and short supply. It is often undertaken by governments as a way of mitigating the impact of scarcity and dealing with economic challenges.

Detailed explanation-2: -Even though thousands of items became scarce during the war, only those most critical to the war effort were rationed. Key goods such as sugar, tires, gasoline, meat, coffee, butter, canned goods and shoes came under rationing regulations. Some important items escaped rationing, including fresh fruit and vegetables.

Detailed explanation-3: -As a policy instrument, rationing when combined with price controls and subsidies prevents shortages creating an inflationary spiral that prices the poor out of the market for goods. It allows the rationing authority to direct scarce goods to those who need them.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.