So the chicken market seems to be working just perfectly then

We’re told that chicken farmers are having a very hard time of it. To which the correct response is good:

‘It’s absolutely dire’: why UK chicken farmers want to call it a day

Bird flu, higher costs and the rise of meat-free options are pushing poultry producers to reduce flocks or give up entirely

We desire some system that can balance out these changes. The cost of producing something goes up - OK. So that means that fewer people will demand that thing as the price necessarily rises. Or, as here, people aren’t willing to pay that higher price and so demand falls. Equally, we’ve substitutes arriving. Both those plant based chicken alternatives and also presumably some sort of expansion of vegans, vegetarians and other dietary kinks. So, demand falls again.

We require some system to deal with these variations. We’ve got one, that price system. Things change and chicken farmers go bust. Not pleasant, of course, but it is the only way anyone has ever found to keep that supply and demand balance.

Of course, because it works The Guardian complains about it. But then that’s pretty normal too.