Civilian Rationing
Rationing is often instituted during wartime for civilians as well. For example, each person may be given "ration coupons" allowing him or her to purchase a certain amount of a product each month. Rationing often includes food and other necessities for which there is a shortage, including materials needed for the war effort such as rubber tires, leather shoes, clothing and gasoline.
Civilian rationing was first used in Germany during the First World War. The author of the system was Latvian economist Kārlis Balodis. Towards the end of the First World War, panic buying in the United Kingdom prompted rationing of first sugar, then meat, for the rest of the war. Rationing was common during World War II.
Civilian peace time rationing of food may also occur, especially after natural disasters, during contingencies, or after failed governmental economic policies regarding production or distribution, the latter happening especially in highly centralized planned economies. Examples include the United Kingdom for almost a decade after the end of World War II, North Korea, China during the 1970s and 1980s, Communist Romania during the 1980s, the Soviet Union in 1990-1991, and Cuba today. This led to rationing in the Soviet Union, in Communist Romania, in North Korea and in Cuba, and austerity in Israel.
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