Posted on 11/06/2012 6:45:19 AM PST by Kaslin
Price controls are a spectacularly foolish idea, and thats true whether theyre imposed by thugs such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thats why one of the 20th Centurys economic heroes is Ludwig Erhard, who unleashed the post-war German miracle by abolishing the price controls imposed by the allied powers.
Notwithstanding all this history, politicians oftentimes cant resist doing the wrong thing, as you can see from this new Reason TV video.Gas Lines, Gouging, and Hurricane Sandy: Keeping Prices Low Means Nobody Gets Fuel
A simple explanation for the stupidity of politicians is that there are more consumers than gas station owners. But I also think this is an example of their illiteracy about what Bastiat referred to as the seen and the unseen.
I hope youre familiar with Reason TV, by the way. If not, you should peruse the great work they do. Some of my favorites include:
And if you enjoy humor, here are some more great videos from Reason TV:
Feel free to share these examples with friends and colleagues.
Price controls are the first weapon of choice for socialists.....
Bttt
One or two actually argued for the price controls on the thread.
Maybe if there weren’t price controls on gas the stations and terminals would spend the money to install standby generators to keep them pumping. The same with grocery stores. Instead of throwing away food..they could be in business if they weren’t flooded.
It’s funny, but developing countries with power problems have more standby generators and handle this type of power failure daily. If you don’t have standby power you can’t be in business.
It would probably only cost 30-50k to install standby at gas stations..
This was exactly my point. If the gubment is going to procecute you for raising prices when the demand-supply relationship is totally shifted to demand then why take on the risk and investment of generators? Just sit it out. Alternatively with no price controls you would see the stations and stores all investing in generators to get the one up.
And if you do have electric with price controls then use the gas to barter for goods, and sell it to friends and family first.
One lib here told me he wants the feds to drive in convoys of tankers with gasoline to NJ, typical. Doesnt he know Os cameo is over there and he wants them to switch to battery cars?
You didn’t vote, you pretended to vote for a pretend candidate
There were two actual candidates, Goode wasn’t one of them
Are you sure you posted this on the correct thread? This title says :”Price controls....”
Who is Goode?
any jersians who can confirm the rule I heard on the radio-
is it true if you raise the price 10% or more within 30 days (before or after a disaster) you can be charged with “price gouging” ?
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