This is an introduction to the subject of famines and its relation to economic theory and history. It also offers an overview of the following chapters, and a summary of findings of the book. The author starts by problematizing the subject: bad whether (a popular explanation for famines to happen) is not the reason of famines, since even the most underdeveloped economies can use storage. The relation between output and consumption is more complicated, and the institution of the market has to be included. This arises other issues, like food distribution, dissemination of information, and government intervention. In answering these questions, the author touches upon subjects such as the history of thought on markets and famines, the economics of markets and famines, and case studies like the famine in Bangladesh during 1974. These are some of the main findings: a) high and unstable grain prices were major contributing factors to excess mortality, b) in these cases, markets are destabilized by speculation, c) in general, famines show inefficient and low integrated markets (the 1974 famine was not associated with a fall in current aggregate food grain availability, but by a drop in future availability), and d) political uncertainty is a major cause of famines (since encourages private speculation)
