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Shortages

What part of a new house costs 4 times as much as a year ago? Lumber!

by Sabri Ben-Achour
Apr 19, 2021
Demand for new U.S. homes is at a record high, and existing homes are old and need repairs.
Lumber prices had risen for a while before the pandemic spurred a renovation trend and boosted prices further.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Durable goods orders sidetracked by February storms and pandemic shortages

by Sabri Ben-Achour
Mar 24, 2021
Despite disruptions caused by bad weather and limited semiconductor supplies, durable goods shipments are up 2% year-over-year.
Durable goods are big-ticket items that last for three years or more, like clothes dryers and vehicles.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Appliance shortages hold up home improvement and new construction

by Amy Scott
Mar 23, 2021
Homebuilders are passing the costs of delays on to consumers because demand for houses is so high.
Customers who order appliances such as refrigerators are waiting months for delivery.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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EEC: Econ 101

The economics behind why toilet paper is sold out

by David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon
Mar 19, 2020
Coronavirus household shortages, explained.
Raising prices might curb panic-buying, but it’s also price gouging.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
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Christmas time during WWII, Americans were encouraged to ‘Make do and Mend’

by Daisy Palacios
Nov 24, 2016
Sarah Archer explores the material culture of Christmas in post-war America in her book, "Midcentury Christmas."
A Office for Emergency Management War Production Board poster and a window display at Marshall Field & Company, circa 1943.
National Archives and Records Administration, Chicago History Museum
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Correction officers shortage: a danger to inmates?

by Alisa Roth
Aug 30, 2016
Florida's shortage means delayed showers, cancelled classes and increased violence.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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U.S. is running low on some basic medicines

by Adriene Hill
Mar 26, 2014
Our advice to you? Stay healthy.
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