"The people who have money to hoard gas", in the current environment, is as worthwhile a qualifier as "the people who have shoes to hoard gas". They're both nec

"The people who have money to hoard gas", in the current environment, is as worthwhile a qualifier as "the people who have shoes to hoard gas". They're both necessary for going out to get gas, but neither is limiting in any important way. The people hoarding gas had a particular combination of gas containers, lawnmowers, and free time. I want the gas stations hoarding the gas and then trying to figure out what price will make them the most money by pricing high enough to just barely sell out by the end of a shortage. Last year when all the grocery stores were running out of staples, I was unluckily traveling for work where there are no grocery stores. Upon returning, I conveniently found that my neighborhood co-op still had eggs because, while almost all eggs had been sold out, no one wanted to hoard $7.50/dz eggs, meaning I had the opportunity to get eggs if I really wanted them. I was able to buy eggs and did so, adjusting my habits accordingly to operate on fewer (but not zero) eggs. Everyone else who had visited that store had the same opportunity, and they also had the chance to compare their own desire for eggs against others' desires to recognize that they could do with fewer, as could I. At the end of the day, having reduced amounts of something I want is way less impactful than having none. The only problem here is if gas stations talk to each other to set a price, but that is collusion, and is illegal independent of gouging laws.