‘When Prices Surge’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman

When Prices Surge

What happens to the prices when demand
outstrips finite supply? Well, you’ll be darned
to know that unlike all those years ago
(when playing fields were level) for a show,
to watch a band like Queen, the cost was set
at just ten quid—you’d not end up in debt!
You’d place a tenner in an envelope,
not sit behind a laptop like a dope
as prices for reunion concerts soar
for tickets, leaving punters slack of jaw.
An envelope with your address was placed
inside the first and soon returned post haste;
no ulcers, gnashing teeth nor undue stress,
no future scrimp-and-save financial mess.
And let’s not mention merch! When prices surge,
corporate greed outshines nostalgic splurge.

Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught in Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated into German. In addition to having two novels, a children’s book and an 18,000-word narrative poem (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!) commercially published, Paul is the author of hundreds of published short stories, poems and articles.

Joseph S. Salemi August 23, 2025

Prices can go up for several reasons.

The first (as you say) is “when demand outstrips finite supply.” This is what you might call normal “situational” inflation — i.e. a lot of people want something but because of some situation (a crop failure, a blockade during war, a strike at the factory, transportation problems) there isn’t enough of the desired product to go around.

The second is inherent rarity based on material preciousness or cultural -religious importance. I might like to have a First Folio of Shakespeare but since there aren’t a lot of them available the price for one will be high, and will inevitably go higher in a world where inflation is common. The same is true for a ten-carat flawless diamond or a solid gold cup — the inherent material preciousness of them doesn’t change, but in an inflationary world the price of both will go higher and higher every year. This is why some people buy gold as a hedge, or valuable works of art.

The third is faddish insanity, where something of no particular cultural-religious value or intrinsic material preciousness will rise to a high price because of some weird notion or silly idea. This is what happened in the famous “tulip” craze in 17th-century Holland, where people would pay vast fortunes for some stupid tulip bulb.

The third is unshackled printing of paper money by an imbecile or corrupt government, like Weimar Germany in the 1920s or today’s Zimbabwe. The paper money becomes worthless, and people return to old-fashioned bartering.

Every seller tries to get as much as he can for what he is selling. At concerts or theatrical shows where there is a huge demand for seats, there will be ticket scalpers outside the box office, offering tickets to disappointed persons wanting to be in the theater, for whatever price the market will bear.