Posted on 09/01/2005 4:22:37 AM PDT by chronic_loser
1) The Usual crowd of freepers who cannot be bothered to actually read the article but feel compelled to display what they "think" about the rapacious mercantilists, blah blah blah
2) The other set of freepers who may actually read the article but are so overcome with resentment against the exploiters and profiteers, or lugubrious sentiment for the exploited that any appeal to common sense is lost on them.
3) A few hardy souls who actually have some understanding of markets, how they work, and how market based solutions are the best, even in a time of crisis.
This is mostly for crowd number three.
And who don't give a d*mn that God forbade usury.
I'm for #3. Now is not the time to panic. Give the markets time to settle down.
Some (like raising the price of gas) is just survival. If a gas station knows their next delivery of fuel is going to be $3.39 a gallon, then they are going to need that much cash flow to get it, even though the fuel already in the tanks only cost $2.34.
I have no problem with # 3
Anybody who doesn't know that doesn't have an opinion worth listening to.
The alternative to forbidding price gouging would be to publicize every company that does it.
You bring up a few good points, but maybe what is needed is a natural disaster plan that includes agreeable per person rates at the hotels. The participating companies can annually sit down and set the rates by negotiating with the towns and cities in which they operate.
Assuming that orders are always of fixed size. Less of an expensive item at the same percentage profit margin over cost, is needed to equal the profit from a cheap item at the same margin.
"Anybody who doesn't know that doesn't have an opinion worth listening to."
That would include many freepers.
I tried to educate one on replacement costs yesterday, and he made the argument of 'would you fine with me giving you an estimate for fixing your house then charging you 3 times as much'... Like that made any sense or related to the retailing of a commodity like gasonline in ANY way, shape, or form.
For about 4 days following 9-11-01, gas prices locally (about 2000 miles away from NYC and WDC) jumped to over $7 per gallon. No reason. No justification. Nothing but kneejerk price gouging.
By the next week, gas prices returned to normal (9-10 prices).
Price gouging is no different than the looting. Just because it is a business, it doesn't have the right to literally steal from customers. [I am lenient with those along the gulf who are stranded and are 'looting' food and clothing. Many of them lost everything except the clothes on their backs and may be stranded for days. But those looting TVs, computers, etc., -- dang, I could have used a new pc --- just bought a new one -- lol -- are just thieves.]
It is the merchant's responsibility to buy intelligently.
These principles apply wither prices are rising or falling.
When governments impose price controls, retail merchants cannot restock and shortages result.
Nice preemptive strike. LOL.
Anyone who disagrees with the article probably has not read it, is too full of resentment to appreciate it, or has no understanding how markets really work.
Cool.
But, silly.
Ignore the politics and see what you end up with. It'll be an entirely different system than the one you cherish. John Lott et al ought to reflect upon that.
However, you cannot ignore what Georgia did.
They floated the rumor that they might run out of gasoline.
The resulting panic caused gas lines, panic topping off of the tanks, and the gas station owners raising the prices by the quarter hour. Some raising the price as much as a dollar at a time.
The Florida law about gouging explicitly creates an out for the cost of acquisition of the items being sold. Nobody's ever expected to sell for less than what they had expended to acquire and get the item there. Your son included. I'm amazed you know nothing about that.
I have to admit, though. I got up at 5 am and filled up our three cars. It hurt me to see the contractor with the dually next to me as I watched his pump still rolling at $135.00 as I drove away. It is going to be tough over the next few weeks, and the pretty airheads on TV won't help much. God, but those people are stupid!!
No, you can sell less at a higher price.
Disaster areas have unstable demolished markets, and so there are a lot of situations where sale prices vary within a huge range. It's common to have one person buy a flashlight at ten times the price that someone else paid a few minutes earlier. The role of government is to first meet all life and death emergencies with aid free of charge, and second to provide communications so all the sellers and buyers can find each other so prices can stabilize.
That may be what our gov't has morphed into, but actually Thomas Jefferson vetoed such a bill on the grounds that it was unlawful (unconstitutional). I can google it for you if you ask. The second role of gov't is PRECISELY what the interstate commerce clause is all about, and I agree wholeheartedly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.