LOL! Yea You're right it's always cheaper when you have to pay a middle man, that's why the Costco's and Home Depot's of the world don't do too well...NO middlemen/brokers to buy from...
It's always much cheaper to buy tomatoes from a middleman profiting from producing nothing than it is directly from the man down the road that produces them.....< /sarcasm >
Sorry, but in your example it isn't the Ca. legislators who don't understand "basic economic principles", it's you.
I proposed that goods are available to consumers at less cost thru free markets crammed full of brokers, distributors, and "middle-men" than the would be without those "greedy-capitalists" that you hate so much.
You said I didn't know anything about economics.
OK, genius, let's do a little test of your theory. I've already done my half.
I just drove to the local supermarket and bought a 4oz. can of black ground pepper for $.99. It took me one hour of my time, and one gallon of gasoline for my pickup truck.
Both the pepper and the gasoline went through at least three brokers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, etc., before I purchased them - and I assume that each one of them made a profit. (If they didn't, they would go out of business, of course.)
OK, now you do your part of this basic economic test. You go buy 4oz. of black pepper from the source. No middle men allowed, so you will have to grind it yourself, package it, and bring it back to your home without relying on anybody else.
Check back in a couple of weeks and let us all know what the total cost in dollars and your time was. (Be sure to include your air fare to India.)