Supply and Demand

A story on NPR today demonstrated that at least one law is working in Iraq today: the law of supply and demand. As the violence escalates, more and more people are buying and selling weapons. The story told of an aunt asking her nephew to buy her a machine gun. On the sales side, police seem to be fairly prominent. The market has boomed. In May a Glock pistol sold for $700, today the price is double. After the fall of Saddam an AK-47 sold for $50 and a rocket propelled grenade for $50 also. Today, the AK-47 is $350, the RPG $11,000.