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"I'm doubtful I'll get to see any more this year." - I'll take that action. All of the consumable that people have been panic buying - toilet paper, hand gel,

"I'm doubtful I'll get to see any more this year." - I'll take that action. All of the consumable that people have been panic buying - toilet paper, hand gel, etc... have experienced absolutely zero supply shock, and, indeed, most of the manufacturers are going to be delighted to draw down their inventory and get a boost this quarter. I'll be extraordinarily surprised if shelves aren't completely full of those consumable within 7-10 days. People are strange - the fact that there was a global pandemic coming at us was pretty obvious as of early march, but it was this weekend that everyone decided to panic? It's not as though this were a hurricane that just landed on us by surprise. I fully support the price gouging laws - it discourages these yahoo's from buying up all of the supplies and sticking it in their garage and depriving people over the weekend who might need a container.

sneak 7y ago
> I'll be extraordinarily surprised if shelves aren't completely full of those consumable within 7-10 days. Then why do we need any price-gouging laws? Who is harmed without them, if the supply remains intact?
- georgemcbay 7y ago
  People with short term need? 7-10 days is a long time to go without some things like food, cleaning supplies (particularly in time of pandemic), masks for those who actually need them like healthcare workers on the front lines, etc.
  - gwright 7y ago
    Have you noticed that the shelves are empty? The price gouging laws don't help that situation they create that situation. How are empty shelves better than the items available for 2x, 3x or even 5x the regular price for a short period of time?
    - ghshephard 7y ago
      People who price gouge are highly incentivized to go buy all the stock in a community and resell it on the internet. That guy in the NYT article essentially drove to all these out of the way places and cleaned out their stock. Allowing price gouging would not result in more of that stock being available on the shelves - responsible retailers and distributors know better, and behave better than that - they make all of their available stock, and when they run out - they run their factories at 100% to try and catch up. Note - I have zero issue with ticket scalping - love the fact that there is a free market where people can buy and sell tickets at the price the market can bear. Also have zero issue with a free market in general - it encourages new suppliers to come in when prices go up, and consumers to find relative substitutes - things find an equilibrium. What I have a problem with is people taking advantage of an emergency or shortage, in such a way that further increases the shortage of items that are critical to people's health and well being, people who may not be able to afford to go out an pay 10x prices on amazon for something like a mask or hand cleaner.
illumin8 7y ago
> People are strange - the fact that there was a global pandemic coming at us was pretty obvious as of early march, but it was this weekend that everyone decided to panic? It's not as though this were a hurricane that just landed on us by surprise. Human behavior doesn't make a lot of sense, but up until a few days ago, the media and the federal government in the US were completely downplaying the seriousness of Covid-19. Many of us who have been warning our close friends and family about this for weeks have been assumed to be paranoid or crazy, but actually we learned this week that the media and government were intentionally downplaying it.

sneak 7y ago

> I'll be extraordinarily surprised if shelves aren't completely full of those consumable within 7-10 days. Then why do we need any price-gouging laws? Who is harmed without them, if the supply remains intact?

georgemcbay 7y ago
People with short term need? 7-10 days is a long time to go without some things like food, cleaning supplies (particularly in time of pandemic), masks for those who actually need them like healthcare workers on the front lines, etc.
- gwright 7y ago
  Have you noticed that the shelves are empty? The price gouging laws don't help that situation they create that situation. How are empty shelves better than the items available for 2x, 3x or even 5x the regular price for a short period of time?
  - ghshephard 7y ago
    People who price gouge are highly incentivized to go buy all the stock in a community and resell it on the internet. That guy in the NYT article essentially drove to all these out of the way places and cleaned out their stock. Allowing price gouging would not result in more of that stock being available on the shelves - responsible retailers and distributors know better, and behave better than that - they make all of their available stock, and when they run out - they run their factories at 100% to try and catch up. Note - I have zero issue with ticket scalping - love the fact that there is a free market where people can buy and sell tickets at the price the market can bear. Also have zero issue with a free market in general - it encourages new suppliers to come in when prices go up, and consumers to find relative substitutes - things find an equilibrium. What I have a problem with is people taking advantage of an emergency or shortage, in such a way that further increases the shortage of items that are critical to people's health and well being, people who may not be able to afford to go out an pay 10x prices on amazon for something like a mask or hand cleaner.

illumin8 7y ago

> People are strange - the fact that there was a global pandemic coming at us was pretty obvious as of early march, but it was this weekend that everyone decided to panic? It's not as though this were a hurricane that just landed on us by surprise. Human behavior doesn't make a lot of sense, but up until a few days ago, the media and the federal government in the US were completely downplaying the seriousness of Covid-19. Many of us who have been warning our close friends and family about this for weeks have been assumed to be paranoid or crazy, but actually we learned this week that the media and government were intentionally downplaying it.