"Ignore the politics and see what you end up with. "
Well merchants will respond rationally - if politics demand that they sell at a loss, then they won't sell, and shortages will result.
Politicians can either leave it alone, or create shortages. That's it. Most of them will opt for the former, while pretending to take action to magically reduce prices and increase availability.
No argument from me.
The subject, however, is whether or not gouging is something which should be defended as a good and natural thing.
I doubt even Adam Smith would defend pirates.
Politicians can either leave it alone, or create shortages. That's it. Most of them will opt for the former, while pretending to take action to magically reduce prices and increase availability.
Again, no argument from me.
Even during World War II, when the need for intervention was obvious to most people, wage, price controls and an extensive rationing system gave birth to black markets and profiteering. But the controls were required to distribute goods where they needed to go and still provide the folks at home with some sense of fairness.
There's a reason Adam Smith is known as the first political economist. Economics is not a science and neither is the operation of markets.