Tim Carney explains their vital function. It’s similar to a piece I wrote after Katrina.
5 thoughts on “Hooray For Price Gougers!”
Comments are closed.
Tim Carney explains their vital function. It’s similar to a piece I wrote after Katrina.
Comments are closed.
Yeah, but he got the issue of charging higher prices on thirsty people wrong.
There are very few things I would protect from disaster pricing.
Fuel of any type would be the first thing on the list. Including batteries.
People tend to rush out and buy bottled water to excessive degrees and neglect to do what you should to prepare for a disaster. Namely fill every vessel, cooler, bathtub and other contain that can hold water.
As for “thirsty people,” if you are talking about AFTER a disaster, I’ll agree, and perhaps the laws should reflect that.
What I’m talking about is that period of preparation.
Jason,
You need to follow the link and read the article. Read the comments too. I’d say that fuel and batteries would be the last thing I would “protect from disaster pricing”, but that wouldn’t be true. There is no last thing on my list because the list is empty. “Protection against disaster pricing” is a euphemism for a price control. Like all price controls and for the same reasons it is bad for the people, period.
If you allow the price to rise before the disaster people will only get what they need, instead of loading up because it’s cheap. Holding prices artificially low creates a situation where people can buy out a store and hoard the items while others would gladly pay more, but can’t because the supply is exhausted. Also people can go buy out the store, set up shop out side and scalp people anyway. The disadvantage is that stores have no incentive to move goods from further out to the disaster area, if they can’t recoup the express freight cost and an additional profit.
Free market capitalism all the way baby!!
Its pretty simple, “fair prices” are not fair, since they lead to hoarding, shortages, and misallocation. Market prices, otherwise know by leftists as “unprincipled gouging” are fair, because you get what you must have at a price you are willing to pay, otherwise you would not pay it. It basically amounts to this question, would you rather pay twice normal price for gas, that is there when you absolutely must have it, or a “fair” price for no gas at all, and a stalled out of gas car, because everybody emptied the gas station.