The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp

A detailed Summary of The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp

In the article entitled "The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp", R.A. Radford describes his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II. As a prisoner of war, he saw first hand how market structure from the outside had influenced the P.O.W. camp. In the beginning of the camp, prisoners would barter amongst themselves. Then the camp's economic system moved towards an Exchange and Mart board, and finally into a market that was comprised of many middlemen. Cigarettes became the main source of currency inside the camp. As a result, paper currency had no value although it was tried inside the camp for a short time, but soon lost out to cigarettes. P.O.W.'s were given a certain ration of cigarettes a week. The prisoners could either smoke the cigarettes or use them as currency, but it all was left up to the prisoner as how they used the cigarettes. Plus, cigarettes were used because they could be given value and were available to P.O.W.'s. Finally, the cigaret!

tes moved easily through the market, so it made them an ideal source of currency. The market prices depended upon the increase and decreases in supply as well as what was happening in the outside world. Even though the prisoners' rights and resources wer

The outside world also affected the price of goods. If news from the outside was bad, prisoners would stop buying goods for a while because they were sad or depressed and prices would drop because demand decreased. However, if news was good from the outside, people would be willing to buy because they were happy or just wanted to celebrate and as a result demand would rise and so do prices. Furthermore, when a substitute was brought into camp, prices would fluxuate. If the new product was easier to come by, the prisoners would buy it instead of its substitute which was harder to come by and as a result cost more cigarettes. This happens in every day like as well. When the price of khakis rise, the demand for jeans increases because the price is lower. The events that happened outside the camp had their effects on the market. This also happens to the modern market as well. When a weather report is issued saying bad weather is coming, it will cause prices of crops to ris!

Prices varied inside the camp daily. The main determinates of the price change were supply and demand. Items were handed out weekly. Some items are given out in larger quantities than other goods. The goods that were supplied to the P.O.W.s in high quantities were given a lower price value in cigarettes. Items that were harder to come by were given a high price in cigarettes. When goods were first passed out to the prisoners, prices were low because quantity demanded was not high because people still had their own rations. However, towards the end of the week, prices began to rise because prisoners would use all their rations. As a result, demand rose for items; therefore, raising prices. If sellers wanted to, they could raise prices higher than what is reasonable, since the demand was high for certain goods and the supply for goods was low; therefore, people are willing to pay anything if the desire the good badly enough. This is evident in the modern market as well!

A market was formed inside the camp because prisoners had things that th

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1375
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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