inelasticity

A statistic attempting to quantify the change in supply or demand for a good, given a certain price change. The more inelastic demand (characteristic of necessities), the less effect a change in price has on demand for the good. The more inelastic supply, the less supply changes when the price does. The CENTER ONLINE Futures Glossary

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inelastic in‧elas‧tic [ˌɪnɪˈlæstɪk◂] adjective

ECONOMICS used to say that a change in something, for example, the price of a product, makes another thing, for example the demand for it, change by only a small amount:

• Coffee is a fairly inelastic commodity, which means lower prices don't significantly increase consumption.

— inelasticity noun [uncountable] :

• the relative inelasticity of supply for housing

ˈprice ineˌlastic

price inelastic goods, markets etc are those where the price of something does not change very much when the supply or the demand for it increases or decreases:

• the highly price-inelastic world market for food grains