By interfering in the natural production and output of the districts Panem's government has created inequality between its industries which has thus led to large economic disparities.

             In America's current economic system, people can compensate for these disparities by working hard enough over a period of time to move up in the economic structure. In other words, they earn the ability to transfer to another district. This is not the case in Panem however. As Katniss crosses the district line to hunt in the wild, she states to the reader that The Capitol has made "trespassing in the woods is illegal." (5) This fact keeps the people of Panem isolated both from each other and from those absurdly wealthy individuals who govern them from The Capitol. And not only is it prohibited to leave the boundaries, but it's also nearly impossible as "enclosing all of District 12 is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed wire [and] electrified twenty-four hours a day as a deterrent to the predators." (4) This combination of metal and law traps district members inside the confines of the fence and deters anybody from attempting to make the journey to another district. If anyone is foolish enough to do so, they are subject to severe punishment by the Peacekeepers.

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             This punishment also awaits anybody in District Eleven, the agriculture district, who dares to eat any of the produce they are responsible for picking from the orchards. As Katniss' ally in the games, Rue, puts it, "Oh, no, we're not allowed to eat the crops.They whip you and make everyone else watch." (202) Because the produce in Panem is ultimately owned by those in The Capitol and not by those in the district, it is considered stealing for the pickers to eat it. The extremity of the penalty can be traced back to the fact that District Eleven is most definitely not among the wealthy districts. The hunger caused by the substandard living conditions must increase the rate of risk takers in the orchards and force the Peacekeepers to heighten punishments.