But since there is so little to buy and demand has risen so sharply, underground prices have spiraled upward with the black-market currency-exchange rate.
In the Confederacy horse prices rapidly spiraled upward due to animal scarcity and inflation costing over $3,000 by war's end.
As this oil shock rippled through Japan's economy, the globe's second largest, prices spiraled upward and panicked consumers hoarded everyday goods like detergent, sugar and toilet paper.
"If this had continued, the economic situation would really get to be quite serious, with food shortages developing and prices spiraling."
At the time, agriculture sales and prices were spiraling downward.
As they looked and didn't buy, prices spiraled upward, leaving them frustrated and convinced they would never be able to afford anything they liked.
During the last few years, as the price of concerts in commercial halls has spiraled upward, I have become an assiduous seeker of low-cost, high-quality musical performances in churches.
However, the fact that the prices of some other forms of energy have spiralled is passed over in modest silence.
The EU prides itself on health and consumer protection but in the Maltese Islands, the price of medications has spiralled for no justifiable reason.
The prices of brownstones are also spiraling upward.