1

Reframing Bread

Observation Lab

Professor Tina Seelig

By Rahel M. Cete, New York City, November 7

•  Why Does Somebody Need Bread?

•  What Are The Alternatives for Bread?

•  Valuing A Load Of Bread

•  Giffen Good

•  Bread Out Of The Box

2

AGENDA

3

Why Does Somebody Need A Bread?

•  I am starving and über-hungry

•  Bread, especially whole-grain bread, is very healthy

•  My friends and/or family got hit by a catastrophe such as hurricane Sandy and desperately need some food

•  I cannot afford fish or meat anymore due to the economic crisis

•  Why Does Somebody Need Bread?

•  What Are The Alternatives for Bread?

•  Valuing A Load Of Bread

•  Giffen Good

•  Bread Out Of The Box

4

AGENDA

5

What Are The Alternatives For Bread?

•  Noodles

•  Potatoes

•  Cereals

•  Rice

•  Granola

•  Power Bars

•  Risotto

•  And every other food that has comparable nutrition

•  Why Does Somebody Need Bread?

•  What Are The Alternatives for Bread?

•  Valuing A Load Of Bread

•  Giffen Good

•  Bread Out Of The Box

6

AGENDA

7

Valuing A Load Of Bread (Examples)

•  Selling the load of bread would generate a monetary value

•  Giving a load of bread away to charities, homeless people, children‘s homes, etc. would create humitarian/philanthropic value

•  Selling local freshly baked bread would be much more eco-friendly and therefore has several values:

•  Local freshly baked bread is healthier than industrial bread for toast people can buy in grocery stores

•  Local freshly baked bread does not have to be shipped from one state to another so the baker is saving shipping costs

•  Why Does Somebody Need Bread?

•  What Are The Alternatives for Bread?

•  Valuing A Load Of Bread

•  Giffen Good

•  Bread Out Of The Box

8

AGENDA

9

Giffen Good

„A rise in the price of bread makes so large a drain on the resources of the poorer laboring families and raises so much of the marginal utility of money to them, that they are forced to curtail their consumption of meat and the more expensive farinaceous foods: and, bread being still the cheapest food which they can get and will take, they consume more, and not less of it“ – Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics (1895)

Ordinary good Giffen good

Normal good (elasticity > 0)

Inferior good (elasticity < 0)

Luxury good (elasticity > 1)

Necessary good

(elasticity <1 )

Responsiveness to bread price changes

Responsiveness to income changes

According to the Giffen Good Theory, bread would also have another value while being an inferior good.

•  Why Does Somebody Need Bread?

•  What Are The Alternatives for Bread?

•  Valuing A Load Of Bread

•  Giffen Good

•  Bread Out Of The Box

10

AGENDA

11

Bread Out Of The Box

•  Bread could be of significant value in times of crises as a „trading currency“

•  Bread could be an eatable, healthy and eco-friendly packaging material for other items

•  Bread could be used as a collapsible zone in an accident if it‘s available at that time (e.g. in a car)

12

Thank You Very Much For Your Attention

Unfortunately, this was not a team work since none of my team-members answered any of my emails. Warmest regards, Rahel M Cete