Demand and supply

Once upon a time, many years ago, an old camel was wandering through the desert minding his own business. Suddenly, from behind a sand dune, a duck and a hen appeared.

"Hey duck, hen", called the camel. "You are a long way from home".

"Help us", cried the hen. "We got stranded here and we haven't had any water for days".

"Sorry”, said the camel, “but I have no water either".

"But you carry all that water on your back", said the duck. "Can we get some of that?"

"Oh my reserves", replied the camel. "Well yes you can, but there is...........er..........only one way I can give that to you. I have a pipe at the back, underneath. Go and suck on that hard and you should get some of the water".

Well duck and hen were too desperate to think too much about this so they quickly went underneath the camel to find the life saving pipe. After a lot of sucking they called up to the camel, who was just standing with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

"We cant get any water!"

"Mmmmmm.....just keep sucking harder", replied camel.

Eventually the duck and hen were able to get some nourishment and happily they thanked the camel and flew away.

As for the camel, he continued wandering through the desert wondering who he could next supply to.
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Comments (64)

didnt the duck and hen leave marks on his pipe?i wud think with beaks must hurt sum what?shows u what a good protein shake can do even the hen flew and chickens cant fly highconfused
Mr Howie, I dare ask you….you not thirstyrolling on the floor laughing rolling on the floor laughing
Chocho…you bring in lot of expertise on the subject matter. I am impressed. wine
Kind of you to ask, but I think I will stick to my Evian for now. Cheers.
mmh i just have a brain and sumtimes use itprofessor tongue wave rolling on the floor laughing
Mr. Howie, you have been writing extremely educational and informational stuff as of lately. This blog is an example and shows how important to know a little bit of economics. I was wondering if you sit down writing these blogs after a hour long lecture to your students? Ever since you mentioned you own a collage, I have been dying to ask you if there is a vacancy for a professor there. You know my credentials very well; you think I can enlighten your students under the auspices of a seasoned professional like you? handshake
Chocho..the kind of stuff you are talking about warrants the use of something more than a brain tongue
what is the gist of this blog? sorry don't understand what you want to express. please explain. confused
Dr Ash - to address you by your proper title. Yes I do own a college - actually half a college - but I dont do any lecturing to students. We employ teachers who know something about the subjects we teach to do that. I am the Principal here, so you see how busy I am in addition to trying to sort out the German economy and also owning an immigration business. (A man like yourself will appreciate how neatly an immigration business fits with a college for overseas students).
Vacancies? Well at the moment we need an additional student welfare officer - this would be someone who deals with the problems of the poor students. Next year we will need teachers for new courses, Marketing and Hospitality Management which we dont currently teach. If any of these are of interest then feel free to forward your CV.....
Hen, the blog is just supposed to be about the free market concept of demand and supply and the effect of these on price. You know when there is a lot of demand and not much supply - the price is high, (like for gold). When there is a lot of supply but not much demand the price is low. (like coal, for example). You see?
what do you think of the increasing high product and land / house price in China? I have always been annoyed by it. And scared of it too. Do you think that inflation really comes?!
Student welfare is certainly interesting if you are "people oriented". We do have a reasonable representation of Chinese students, also many from the Philippines and Thailand which - if I remember correctly - is a favourite part of the world of yours.
Hen, demand and supply theory just comes from the free market. Sure - in China now there are so many more rich people than there were in the past that prices are rising fast. Is this something to be scared of? Well when prices reach a point where most people cannot afford things, then demand falls and prices should fall too. In the UK, about a month ago, there was a 17th century Chinese vase which sold at auction for 56 million pounds. It was a world record for a Chinese vase, it was bought by a Chinese bidder and there were many more (Chinese) who were prepared to pay a similar amount. This is the impact of rising wealth and increased spending power.
Well both of you mess my brain. but I am just interesting in the inflation. Don't talk about the rich people. Talk something about what the poor people should do during inflation. Inflation, it means that the money I save in the bank will be less and less in their value. How can I make them at least not lose their value?
OK Hen, i can see that you want to be serious here. In times of inflation you are quite correct, money will lose its real underlying value. Normally interest rates will also be high, because most governments raise interest rates in times of inflation to take money out of the economy, to help bring down inflation. If you have surplus cash and are worried about it then I suggest you invest it somewhere where it will make a very good return, higher than inflation. If you need help with this just let me know.
Hen…with inflation goes up the interest rates. Unless you are planning to spend your money outside China, your money will get more interest and you can pay through this”artificial’ increase for the higher prices. But your savings must be substantial and should be left for long term growth and you may not feel the difference as to what is going on. drinking
Hey - this is sounding better and better! German lager, chilled vodka, spending the days in this large office of mine writing blogs on CS and pretending to work! I suppose my only slight reservation is that I was intending to ask the new welfare officer to also take on responsibility for students who have problems paying their fees. I would prefer to have the cash in the bank, rather than a very satisfied welfare officer - if you get my drift.
Mr Howie…believe me I did not copy your answer. Wow….you still need my resume or I am just hired? yay
I don't have so many "surplus cash" as you imagine. I just do not want that the money I earn and save so hard will lose its vaule and can only buy less things in the future.

Now those people who have enough money will choose to buy land or houses to keep the value, as land and house will never lose its value but increase. Some people choose to buy gold too. Of course I don't have so much money to buy land or gold, so I do not know how to keep their value. I don't hope that their value will increase, just hope that their value won't decrease. It is a matter of living and having enough food to eat.

Put it to somewhere where (forget what you said in the comment)... I know we should put it in somewhere where the money can keep their value, but where?!

I am an idiot in economy.
wait. I need to have some times to read both of your comments and understand all of them. too deep.
omg i thought this was like an animal farm story?but now that i have thought about it,cud relaterolling on the floor laughing
Hen, land and buildings can also fall in value. The value of property has risen hugely in China due to demand, but several "experts" predict that this cannot continue for ever. ("What goes up has to come down") !
Ms Chocco, its good that you realise the depth of some blogs here on CS. What started out as an adventure in animal depravity has now turned into a study of economics.
Hen…if you are so worried, change your savings into dollars. This monster ‘US’ is unarguably pretty safe. Mr. Howie may disagree with my assessment but I still say this.

Mr. Howie, in all seriousness, I have a hidden talent and the post you mentioned fits me like a hot Chinese flower in the vase that you mentioned above. I promise there will be no blogging. I am workaholic. I hope you get my drift.

Choco...is there anything I can do for your welfare?kiss
@ howie insight full conversing
Hen, if inflation is also high then your income should be increasing too?
Well to put it simply, the increased interest rates will give you higher profit but it’s not guaranteed that it’s exactly the same amount that could bridge the gap between 10 vrs 7 apples. I would suggest look for alternatives. Guavas are a good substitute. Or buy one big melon. I mean why you need to eat so much fruit Hen? banana
how. In the coming years, land and house won't lose their value. They will only be more and more expensive, which stilumate more and more people rush to buy them, as a result, they become more and more expensive. A vicious circle. Oh come on, I have never trust those experts saying.
Well you cannot believe that the China economy will just keep growing for ever. Sooner or later the growth will have to slow down.
In any case, its OK for you. You are young and you should be able to have opportunities to increase your income. The people who really suffer in these times are the old people on pensions, their income really is fixed.
Ash. Is dollar safe? I just see that the same dollars can exchange fewer and fewer RMB these years. So is the Hong Kong dollars.

How. My income? Lol. There is a saying these years here: The income is as low as those in Africa, while the product price is as high as those in the west.

Ash. Oh I see what you mean. I don’t know the interest in the bank. I hope it will increase. So you mean, during inflation, the interest rates in the banks will increase?! These years I can not eat so much fruits, because the fruits are more and more expensive.

How. I guess growing too fast is not good. It may make people feel that it is a good sign, but actually growing too fast means having a lot of changes, and half of these changes will seriously affect people's basic life.
It could be a stage of inebriation but I meant state……blushing
Uhmmm... interesting! may I sleep here just to listen? grin wave super
So i see why so many skinny or slim women go to hospital and ask the doctors to help them build a good, curvy figure.

BTW, i am going to sleep. Nice talk to both of you. I guess I will dream that my money all becomes gold or bricks. laugh
lol, nope, I mean I stay here to listen, not sleep here! doh blushing grin
hamy~~hug I am going to sleep. You have a good dream~~~

BTW, don't sleep on here, that How and that Ash are watching and ready to catch the prey~~~conversing
why did i get dragged into it?confused
Hello Ms Hamy and welcome to todays lesson on economics and coping with inflation.
lol, Hen dear, hug
You know, I am typing when sleeping... as the result! lol
OK, I continue my sleeping sleep
You sleep well and sweet dreams! hug hug wave
yeah, we are like vultures in the desert, waiting to pounce on a bit of dead meat.
Hello Mr. How, lol

Yup, thanks, wave
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created Dec 2010
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