Bread Economics

Ramadan leads to a greater consumption of bread because it's ready as soon as the mosques announce we can eat again. Bread is a fairly new phenomenon in Guinea, and especially in Haute Guinea. Almost 100% of the bakers are Puhls, the denizens of the Fouta Djallon, who make up 40% of Guinea's population and have been repressed by both governments since independence. They still manage to be the most prosperous Guineans, stereotypically being the merchants, bakers, and herders.

The elders in Kankan decided during Ramadan that because bread is so important and the Puhls are to be beaten down whenever possible, the price of bread throughout their jurisdiction would be fixed at 1500 Guinean Francs. To further demonstrate their power over the Puhls, they set the price of beef at 10,000 Guinean Francs.

The price of a standard loaf of bread in the city of Kankan is usually 1500 anyway, so that made no difference. It was in the villages that it changed: either they buy in Kankan and transport to the villages, or there is a baker in town who has to buy his flour in Kankan.

My village has a very good baker. I am working with him to develop different products, but he is already acknowledged as making far better bread than you can get in Kankan. His normal price is 2000.
For several days after the announcement, he continued to sell his bread at 2000 and nobody complained. Then there was a crackdown.

He was thrown in jail overnight for refusing to lower his price. I heard that and was furious. I predicted to my friend that either he would refuse to make bread at a loss, continue getting thrown in jail for selling at a higher price, or make smaller loaves.

Sure enough, there was no bread the day after he got out. Or the next. Or the next. Then someone started shipping bread in from Kankan, but that didn't last. Who wants to sell at a loss? Finally, once he was sure everyone was really sorry they threw him in jail, we were inundated with bread: each loaf smaller than before.

I went to see him once I'd seen he was working again to congratulate him. He was ecstatic that he was now making more money than before because people were now happier with his product even though they now pay more than they did before per measure of bread.