What are price controls?

Price controls are when governments step in to decide how much things cost, like setting rules for a game you play every day.

Imagine you're at a candy store, and you want to buy your favorite gummy worms. Normally, the shopkeeper decides how much they cost, maybe $2 per bag. But if the government says, "No! Gummy worms must be only $1!" That’s like a price control, where someone else (the government) tells the shopkeeper what to charge.

Sometimes, though, governments say, "You can’t make gummy worms cost more than $3!", that's another kind of price control. It’s like telling your friend in the game: "You can’t win by getting too many points!"

If a government sets prices too low, stores might run out of candy because they don’t get enough money to buy more gummy worms.

If prices are set too high, people might not want to buy as much, and the store might have extra candy sitting on the shelf.

Price controls can help or hurt depending on how fair the rules are!