2 ms·

Re #1: yes it does. For example, during Katrina, high prices encouraged people to drive long distances to bring supplies from other states. Re #2: low prices,

Re #1: yes it does. For example, during Katrina, high prices encouraged people to drive long distances to bring supplies from other states. Re #2: low prices, not high prices, encourage hoarding. Why not buy 20 multi-packs of toilet paper if it's cheap? If toilet paper is expensive, you buy what you need. The alternative to price gouging isn't everyone getting what he needs: that's a fantasy. The actual alternative is empty shelves and black markets. Re #3: emotion is no basis for public policy. The state has a responsibility to maintain law and order during an emergency. In some situations, intuition serves us well, but economics is not prone to these situations. It really is a good thing for prices to rise in times of scarcity. Thousands and thousands and thousands of years of history tell us that price controls only ever make things worse.

mywittyname 7y ago
1) people were also shipping water and other supplies to Katrina for free. I literally spent hours during the aftermath of Katrina filling aid packages for people affected by the storm. These aid packages were not sold, they were given away to people who had lost everything. These supplies are already being produced as fast as possible. Even people with 3d printers are making these masks to give away #2) bubbles form with a group of people purchase goods at already inflated prices, with the explicit attempt to drive up prices further and sell them for a profit. "If people are willing to pay $50 for a roll of toilet paper, maybe if I buy up all the toilet paper, I can sell it for $500!" -People causing bubbles. 3) If the state has a responsibility to maintain order, then they have a responsibility to combat price gouging, because failing to do so is a failure to maintain order. It's not an emotion issue, it's a rational one. I feel like you're the one whose intuition is off. What I'm talking about are real, proven issues with price gouging and these are literally the reason that it is outlawed in nearly all of the USA. It's a slam-dunk case for prosecutors too. There's a reason why people caught price gouging are in the news the next week for "donating" their stash.
- qeternity 7y ago
  Nice red herring at the end there. Nobody is arguing whether or not price gouging is illegal in many or most jurisdictions. That’s a matter of fact. There are no proven economic issues with price gouging, just moral ones.
- dehrmann 7y ago
  > If the state has a responsibility to maintain order, then they have a responsibility to combat price gouging, because failing to do so is a failure to maintain order. Expensive goods or shortages: pick one, but neither "maintains order."
MisterBastahrd 7y ago
Scarcity forced people to drive to other states. Gouging is illegal in Louisiana and it's always outsiders who are completely shocked when everyone from the bleeding heart to the die-hard GOP supporter will call the cops when they see it. Anyone who gouges in the state can fully expect to receive a lawsuit from the state AG.

mywittyname 7y ago

1) people were also shipping water and other supplies to Katrina for free. I literally spent hours during the aftermath of Katrina filling aid packages for people affected by the storm. These aid packages were not sold, they were given away to people who had lost everything. These supplies are already being produced as fast as possible. Even people with 3d printers are making these masks to give away #2) bubbles form with a group of people purchase goods at already inflated prices, with the explicit attempt to drive up prices further and sell them for a profit. "If people are willing to pay $50 for a roll of toilet paper, maybe if I buy up all the toilet paper, I can sell it for $500!" -People causing bubbles. 3) If the state has a responsibility to maintain order, then they have a responsibility to combat price gouging, because failing to do so is a failure to maintain order. It's not an emotion issue, it's a rational one. I feel like you're the one whose intuition is off. What I'm talking about are real, proven issues with price gouging and these are literally the reason that it is outlawed in nearly all of the USA. It's a slam-dunk case for prosecutors too. There's a reason why people caught price gouging are in the news the next week for "donating" their stash.

qeternity 7y ago
Nice red herring at the end there. Nobody is arguing whether or not price gouging is illegal in many or most jurisdictions. That’s a matter of fact. There are no proven economic issues with price gouging, just moral ones.
dehrmann 7y ago
> If the state has a responsibility to maintain order, then they have a responsibility to combat price gouging, because failing to do so is a failure to maintain order. Expensive goods or shortages: pick one, but neither "maintains order."

MisterBastahrd 7y ago

Scarcity forced people to drive to other states. Gouging is illegal in Louisiana and it's always outsiders who are completely shocked when everyone from the bleeding heart to the die-hard GOP supporter will call the cops when they see it. Anyone who gouges in the state can fully expect to receive a lawsuit from the state AG.