Re: Price gouging is beneficial. Price gouging is great!

    The law of supply and demand is stronger than any law any government
will ever enact.
    "Price gouging" is simply charging a higher price than the person using
the term wants to be charged.
"rexcetera" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>      Price gouging is good! Misguided criticism of price gouging followed
> the earthquake in California, as it followed the Hurricane in South
Florida,
> and flooding in the Midwest.
>     Price gouging provides extra money for suppliers to buy larger
shipments
> of necessities and pay added costs for urgent delivery and extra employees
> under crisis conditions.  Wholesalers and distributors quickly reroute
> supplies to disaster areas where increased demand covers the added costs
and
> permits a greater profit.  To defeat price gouging further hurts those who
> are already hurting.
>     Price gouging is great! Higher prices cause people in non-damaged
areas
> to delay purchases of building materials, freeing the material up for sale
> in disaster areas.  Protests of price gouging are made by the same people
> who whine about bare shelves in non-gouging stores.
    Businesses that refuse to charge higher prices in times of disaster for
political reasons end up with shortages. This is just supply and demand.
It's truly sad that so many people think price controls can somehow defeat
the law of supply and demand.
Price gouging is how
> free market pricing restrains buyers who would rush into non-gouging
stores
> before or during a crisis and leave nothing but anchovies (but at the
> non-gouged price, of course).
    The ability to charge higher prices in times of disaster is a form of
disaster insurance that's built into the capitalist structure. Stores and
other firms that would otherwise suffer a loss of profits following a
hurricane or earthquake can actually make windfall profits, so long as they
have their shelves well stocked before disaster strikes.
>     All goods are private property and sellers can charge whatever they
wish
> or not sell at all.  Anti-gouging laws cause sellers not to reroute items
to
> disaster areas and to delay selling near disaster areas.  People who
support
> anti-gouging laws are ignorant statists who cut their own throats (and
> others').
>     Price-gougers should be praised.  Sellers who do not gouge prices do
not
> do themselves or consumers any favors.  They encourage hoarding and lessen
> their ability to increase replenishments.
>     Any Libertarian or Objectivist will point out that anti-gouging laws
> achieve the opposite of what was intended.
    The primary intent of most price ceilings is political gain, and they
sometimes do accomplish that purpose. It's politically expedient to vote for
legislation that's supposed to lower prices in times of crisis. Most voters
don't think hard enough about the issue to realize that such legislation
threatens the supply of retail goods in times of crisis.
    To borrow an example from rent control, the lucky few who do settle into
halfway decent rent controlled apartments are the main constuency served by
such legislation. Such tenants notice they benefit. Those who occupy rent
controlled apartments that are run down or unsafe are understandably
disatisfied with what their money gets them, and they tend to be sympathize
with politicians who demonize landlords. Those who cannot move into rent
controlled cities usually don't attribute their difficulty to rent control,
and can't vote for the politicians imposing it anyway.
    Just as it's unwise to be overly suspicious of the motives of one's
opponents, it's important not to automatically impute benevolent motives on
those who would use force to acheive their own goals.
Eastern Europe, the former Soviet
> Union, China and other socialist economies demonstrate that government
> attempts to suppress prices causes greater shortages and suffering.  The
> laws of supply and demand do not change by popular edict.
>     Mandating price gouging would make more sense than banning it, though
no
> law at all is best.  The "correct" price for all goods at all times is the
> highest price anyone will pay.  That is how Capitalism creates abundance
and
> prosperity.  Price gouging is beneficial.
>
> This letter was originally published on 11-11-96
>
> for more libertarian ideas on price gouging see
> http://members.ij.net/rex/Ruth.html
>
> http://rexcurry.net was one of the first websites to use the phrases
"price
> gouging is good" and "price gouging is great" and "price gouging is
> beneficial" in a sincere positive manner.  A recent web search for those
> phrases revealed either no results, or results that used the phrases in a
> derogatory manner, and almost no instances of positive advocacy of price
> gouging.  It is more proof that government schools must end.
>
> (For more ideas on liberty and libertarianism see
http://members.ij.net/rex
> and http://rexcurry.net from Rex Curry at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]).
>
>
>
>
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