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RE: Price Gouging is a hot topic after Hurrican Harvey. Surprise, surprise, government chooses wrong path
This law sounds awful for me. I am not from US so correct me if I am wrong, in the case, there is a crisis (tornado, fire, earthquake), price gouging prohibits to offer something for free to the people who got into that accident?
Like providing free water, food and blankets right?
If that's true, maan this is the stupidest law ever, I would not care about 20k fine and help to those people as much as I could.
How about the situation, when there is an earth quake or some explosion in a city center and all subways are closed, is the taxi prohibited from helping people and giving them a free ride?
That's a nonsense.
No, you have misunderstood.
There is no law against offering anything for free.
The law says you can't increase price during a time of emergency, no matter how high the demand.
So the result is demand sky rockets, but supply does not show up to be purchased since it costs a lot more to bring in supply during crisis.
The result of the law is supply drops at exactly the moment that the market is sending a signal that there is increased demand and theprice should be allowed to go up, but government prohibts the market from working.
Predictable result every time = massive shortages. Caused by government not letting free market operate to bring supply and demand into balance.
At the very moment when capitalist system could produce the absolute best result, the government turns into Stalinist old Russia central planning style of government
If the government let the free market solve the problem quickly and efficiently, too many people would be forced to ask - why do we need so much government ? Why are we sending so much in taxes to the government ? Why don't we demand a smaller government, that focuses on just the issues it was intended to, such as common defense.