Posted on 11/03/2012 1:55:01 PM PDT by sickoflibs
The answer in our situation is a resounding NO.
Because existing supply is prepositioned in the consumer facing end of the supply chain.
Raising prices would create adverse incentives to the chains of gas integrated wholesalers/retailers and confederated station owners in the region.
And, given your beliefs about the free market, I suspect you'll be voting for Obama? After all, the free market is just people dealing with people for their mutual well-being.
We wouldn't want that would we.
It's just incredible the extent to which Marxism has permeated American conservatism.
Gouging is superior to hoarding.
Let the price rise to meet demand and you have a much better chance of more people getting what they need instead of what they want.
Thanks
This is exactly the one I was thinking of. Allowing gas station owners to charge what buyers are willing to pay, rather than the lower price that the state dictates, could provide a strong incentive to bring in generators to power more gas stations getting more people gas and slowly lowering the prices again as more come on line.
The way it is now station owners might as well just close early with these rules leaving consumers with nothing for standing in line.
But fairness trumps practical economics when the elected gubment decides.
Are you trying to claim that communism didn't work? North Koreans are the happiest people in the world. Life is fair there. No gouging there.
So NJ Gov Chris Christie has just announced a form of gasoline rationing of odd and even buying days. At the same time he is prosecuting merchants for raising prices in response to the shortages; and I am sure this is very popular there: ‘ Proscecute those greedy capitalists because price gouging is unfair’ I can imagine them saying.
Under the circumstances, could you blame a station owner who just shuts down to avoid the hassle?
You’re close, but wrong. High prices send a market signal and cure themselves through arbitrage or repairing the supply/demand shock.
Government regulations on gas blends limit the ability to shift gasoline, but price flexibility, desparaginly called “price gouging”, acts as a clarifier both for supply and demand.
Imagine the situation where a butcher has thousands of dollars worth of meat at meat at steak v. the person who wants to keep the television and refrigerator running. At $15/gal the market will clear only for those who need it most. If both of the above face the same pricing then their is a mismatch because the market clearing price is obviously higher. The people who need it least get too much and the people who need it most get to little. Supply remains the same because potential suppliers don’t gain anything by entering the market.
See this example from NC: http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2007/Mungergouging.html
Price gouging laws are stupid and high prices cure themselves.
I can agree with the rationing. The price control is BS unless you can protect the station from huge increases in his next delivery. I would personally shut the business until the gov gets out of the way
Rationing+price controls = empty shelves, gas lines, uniform despair = fairness
Fairness is a word I have come to despise in the last four years. No one ever mislead me to expect fairness in life. Anyone who does is delusional
NJ also has that law that you are not allowed to pump your own gas, you must wait for an attendant.
I’m sure those union twits are really doing yeomans duty in pumping that gas too/s
Businesses price gouging people will experience the opposite effect - forever.
How do you define “price gouging”? I say it’s mine and it’s not for sale. You want it at any price, should I be forced to sell it at your price or not sell it at all if it’s not what I would take?
Businesses price gouging people will experience the opposite effect - forever.
How do you define “price gouging”? I say it’s mine and it’s not for sale. You want it at any price, should I be forced to sell it at your price or not sell it at all if it’s not what I would take?
Christie’s channeling Carter or maybe Obama rubbed off on him. These stupid Eastern Publicans.
Gouging is superior to hoarding.
Don’t doubt the jerks who are hoarding too. That is one reason that rationing is not a bad move.If you want to hoard, do it before the disaster
I guess that went out the door really quick after this storm.
Don’t bet on it. That’s probably what had the lines so long
Dear libertarian figment of Ayn Rand’s imagination. You are not “forced” to sell anything. You can show everyone and close down during a disaster. Republican and Demonrat States forbid price gouging. Why? Because they don’t want businesses burned and looted. They are not darwinists.
Just so you know, price gouging is raising your profit margins on items beyond what is your profit margins were prior to the disaster. So if the widgets cost you more than before the disaster, you can charge more.
During a disaster, business owners who are quick in getting going again, make lots more business in volume of sales. So in a way, they benefit in profit from a disaster without taking advantage of people’s suffering and ripping everyone off.
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