As regards the great staples of life, of which an abundance can always be secured, scarcity is eliminated as a factor.

There is always a large surplus kept on hand from which any fluctuations of demand or supply can be corrected, even in most cases of bad crops.

The prices of the staples grow less year by year, but rarely, if ever, rise.

There are, however, certain classes of articles permanently, and others temporarily, unequal to the demand, as, for example, fresh fish or dairy products in the latter category, and the products of high skill and rare materials in the other.

All that can be done here is to equalize the inconvenience of the scarcity.
This is done by temporarily raising the price if the scarcity be temporary, or fixing it high if it be permanent.