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comment by ThurberMingus
ThurberMingus  ·  2256 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Three Cheers for Price Gouging During Hurricane Florence

    Anti-gouging laws clearly limit the incentive to bring new supply where there is a shortage.

Limited, not removed. Selling a generator for cost&transportation&reasonable profit isn't gouging.





snoodog  ·  2256 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It would never make sense to bring generators into the worst disaster areas. The optimal delivery point is just far enough to sell the generators on the outskirts of the storm damage. Instead of moving goods to the area of highest demand you would move them to an area of lowest barriers.

wasoxygen  ·  2256 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If cost & transportation & reasonable profit provide sufficient incentive for sellers to meet the demand, gougers will not be able to sell and get "unreasonable" profit, whatever that might mean.

They might even dump their goods at a lower-than-intended price, if they are permitted to risk their own resources in bringing goods to the site of an emergency, hoping to sell for high prices.

Who gets to decide what price is unreasonable for every product in every context? If nobody buys, nobody gets gouged. If someone buys, will you tell them they are not allowed to get the generator at that price because in someone else's opinion it is too expensive?