3 ms·
> (no one can justify extra manufacturing etc. In cases where the free market isn't incentivized to make the supplies we need, it's the job of the government t
by vdnkh 6y ago
> (no one can justify extra manufacturing etc.
In cases where the free market isn't incentivized to make the supplies we need, it's the job of the government to take over and make them. "Profiting from catastrophe" as you put it will result in price gouging.
- mhh__ 6y agoI think they were arguing that measures intended to stop price gouging can disincentivize an increase in supply, e.g. it's a lot harder to undercut someone selling a pack of toilet paper for £10 than £1. Definitely possible but I'm not sure it's happening specifically at the moment.
- dehrmann 6y agoIn the US, especially at the current federal level, the market is better at making a profit than the government is at governing.
- MattGaiser 6y ago> it's the job of the government to take over and make them And how that usually works is that the government offers to pay a very high price to someone willing to doing so. This isn't all that different as the government then pays 5x for the item.
- jimktrains2 6y agoIt need not be a high unit price, often a sufficiently large order could do the same as well.
- MattGaiser 6y agoDepends on the timeframe. If you want 5 million masks next week and each machine produces 1 million a week, you need 5 machines. If you can wait 5 weeks, then one machine will do. But yes, this certainly could be true.