[expat_panama]

The first fire department was a private contractor in ancient Rome.   They'd show up at a fire and begin by price 'negotiating'.   The name of the first fire chief was Crassius, from whom we got the word "crass".

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.

[chronic_loser]

The role of government is to first meet all life and death emergencies with aid free of charge,

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.

[grjr21]

"The first fire department was a private contractor in ancient Rome. They'd show up at a fire and begin by price 'negotiating'. The name of the first fire chief was Crassius, from whom we got the word "crass"."

I just checked a map .
Can,t find any Roman Empire ?
Wonder why?