the price system: end of chapter problem circa 1200 bce, a decreasing supply of tin due to wars and the breakdown of trade led to a drastic increase in the price of bronze in the middle east and greece. around this time, blacksmiths developed iron- and steel-making techniques. a. how is the increasing price of bronze a signal? because it clears the market, where both consumers and producers are satisfied because it tells producers and consumers that bronze is getting harder to produce and needs to be conserved because it provides a prediction about the future, including when wars will start and end b. how is the increasing price an incentive? because it clears the market and both sellers and buyers are satisfied because it discourages people about the future of the economy because it rewards people who make bronze less scarce c. how do your answers in questions a and b help explain why iron and steel became more common around the same time as the increase in price? an increase in the price of bronze innovation to produce substitutes such as iron and steel. d. after the development of iron, did the supply or demand for bronze shift? the demand for bronze shifted to the right because of the availability of iron and steel. the demand for bronze shifted to the left because of the availability of iron and steel. the supply for bronze shifted to the right because of higher incentives to produce it.