The author makes a very good point, though, about how scarcity brought about by emergency conditions coupled with price controls imposed by law are a recipe for disaster in one key respect: they inevitably lead to the over-consumption of resources that would otherwise be used wisely if their prices rose dramatically.
He basically laid out California's energy woes a couple of years ago in a nutshell, but in the context of a natural disaster.
Good point, but natural disasters are just that - disasters.
When was the last time a big one hit the "west" coast of Florida? These people looked at the actuarial tables and said, "What the hey, once every hundred years, that's acceptable to me."
While I disagree with price controls and rationing in general, in times of emergency, I think compassion should rule the day.
In our particular case, over-comsumption of resources did not occur because we ran out of resources to consume. Even if they were available, and their prices rose dramatically, the people needing those resources did not see their income rise to meet it.
CA's energy crisis was entirely man-made and greed driven. I don't think the Big "G" plans hurricanes that way.