The Value of Money, in Ramen
All scenes › Chapter 2 Why does everything go up?
A small village
When money is plentiful, price tags get bigger
View in 3DRamen in a small village
Why do prices go up? Imagine a small village with only 10 packs of ramen and 10,000 won. A pack sells for about 1,000 won. Now suppose the village money grows to 20,000 won while the ramen stays the same: everyone wants ramen, so the shop owner can raise the price and still sell it all. In the end, the price moves toward 2,000 won. When money becomes plentiful, each bill is worth less, and the numbers on price tags get bigger.
Why?In real life, people save some money instead of spending it all, and the amount of goods grows too, so prices do not exactly double. But the main idea holds: when money grows faster than goods, prices rise.
Learn moreThe village is a simple example to help understanding, and its numbers are made up.
- Price of one pack in the village (example)
- 2,000 won
calculated from Bank of Korea ECOS data and recorded ramen prices
View this scene in 3D →More in the series
Prices, money, income, wages and interest rates come from the Bank of Korea Economic Statistics System (ECOS); ramen prices come from the National Archives of Korea and the Korea Price Research Center (as reported). All income and wage figures are averages. The banknote and ramen packs in the 3D view are sample drawings, not real designs or brands.