“Economics of Ramen”

Morgan Aschenbrenner

Economics B3

Sharon Straub

9/23/2014

“Economics of Ramen”

As the top percentage of the people who are taking this economics class and are about to read this blog are seniors, we have all been college bombarded and focused. We are being told to begin saving as we will soon be entering the real world where we will have to, if we haven’t already been, providing for ourselves and ensuring that we can feed our own hungry mouths. One of the most important staples that feeds the demand of the average college student would be the famous ramen noodle originally brought over from China to Japan to eventually the American people. This instant food is incredibly cheap and has different flavor packets to satisfy the preferences of any individual. Though they seem fantastical and easily could become breakfast, lunch, and dinner to save money, is their lack of nutrition and effects on your body really worth the cheap economic cost?

The average ramen noodle package takes about four minutes to make taking away little time from one’s day to perform other tasks such as working, doing homework, or hanging out with friends. The opportunity cost of ramen noodles is very low making its demand to the busy stressed college student rise. In addition the cost of the instant noodles is averaging from $0.25 to $0.45 a package. Theoretically letting a poor college student spend a dollar a day to ensure their bare minimum nutrition is met.  

Below is a chart depicting the percentage of how often people on average consume ramen

However, relying on ramen isn’t exactly the best idea far as nutrition goes. Ramen is very high in salt and other things in high quantities which aren’t exactly helping you in any form. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that ramen noodles could actually be leading to shorter lives. Along with other forms of instant noodles it is actually increasing a person’s risk for cardiometabolic syndrome. In addition most instant noodles are packaged in Styrofoam which contains BPA which is a hormone disruptor, and it also contains MSG on top of being high in saturated fat. In fact a viral video was made of what happens when one’s body tries to digest the noodles which showed the stomach working over time.

As we are about to enter a new world of responsibilities as young adults, we need to start making our own life decisions that will follow us for the rest of our lives, especially including our own health and nutrition. So before we automatically decide to save money and think thriftily by buying cheap foods like ramen to ensure our survival, we need to be thinking about the negative externalities that is causes to our health. Just because our savings may have increased by a small marginal benefit, is it really worth it?  

Johnson, Carolyn. "The global power of instant noodles ." The Boston Globe . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/09/08/the-global-power-instant-noodles/slwhJDp9yoE6M5C1uokrlJ/story.html>.

Brickman, Sophie. "The History of Ramen Noodles." The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-history-of-the-ramen-noodle>.

Y-N, Ken. "The impending instant ramen sticker shock ." What Japan Thinks . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://whatjapanthinks.com/2007/11/05/the-impending-instant-ramen-sticker-shock-part-1-of-2/>.

Greenfield, Beth. "Why Ramen Noodles Could Cut Your Life Short ." Yahoo Health . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <https://www.yahoo.com/health/why-ramen-noodles-could-cut-your-life-short-94747327572.html>.

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