The price mechanism is a system in an economy where the prices of goods and services are determined by the forces of supply and demand. This mechanism is responsible for regulating the balance between what consumers want to buy and what producers want to sell.
As the demand for a particular item increases, the price of the item will rise, causing producers to increase supply to meet the demand. On the other hand, if the demand decreases, the price will fall, and producers will decrease their supply. In this way, the price mechanism helps allocate scarce resources by ensuring that the goods and services that are in high demand are produced and distributed more, while those that are not in high demand are produced and distributed less.
In conclusion, the price mechanism does all of the above - regulates supply and demand, rations the consumers, rewards the producers, and allocates scarce resources - to ensure an efficient and effective allocation of resources in an economy.