Posted on 09/08/2005 11:08:53 AM PDT by aynrandy
at this point, whatever we feeble consumers think is fair or unfair is a moot point....we are technically in a vise and they are operating it...
solution is to break their grip....break their monopoly....break their hold on all of us....
Hello! Paging Bill O'Reilly! Please read and learn!
Price Gouging at the Multiplex!
OBJECTION: "But we don't NEED to buy popcorn and soda..."
RESPONSE: "We don't NEED to buy bottled water, but we do. We don't NEED an over-sized restaurant serving, but we order it anyway. We don't NEED to rent that stupid movie, but we do it anyway. We don't NEED many things but we buy them anyway because WE HAVE IT GOOD IN THE OL' U.S. of A!
People can rationalize what is happening all they want ---
There is a huge difference between MAKING A PROFIT and CRASS PROFITEERING.
Once it leaves the ground, it is the free-est and most competitive market their is.
"solution is to break their grip....break their monopoly....break their hold on all of us...."
I was going to start a gas company, but they wouldn't let me build a refinery.
So why is gas down 10 cents in the last 2 days? Are the stupid oil companies just deciding to charge less?
Why was gas only a buck 10 years ago? Were the oil companies just stupid allowing the price to get that low?
Or, are you wrong, and in fact the price is determined by market forces?
Harsanyi's columns are the only reason for ever picking up the Denver comPost.
Governments pass legislation to cap price per gallon of gasoline at pump.
Next Day, everyone's 401k take an unexpected hit.
DIMS: "We need an investigation! BUSH'S FAULT!"
But that's nothing. Last time I went to see a movie, I paid approximately $200,000 a gallon for soda - I'd need an infinity sign to calculate the per-pound price of popcorn.
I don't know about $200,000, but I paid $66 a gallon for a beer at the last football game I went to. Ridiculous?
Stop the taxes and you don't repair roads and bridges...
It's not quite that simple. There are certain commodities known as essentials that do not swing freely on the supply and demand pendulum.
For example, it doesn't matter how high the price for food goes because of short supplies, the demand for food will not drop below a certain minimum level, because it is an essential commodity. At this point, supply and demand laws break down.
Gasoline and other energy commodities are in this category. No matter how high the price goes, past a certain point there will be no corresponding reduction in demand.
This is why price gouging is a real event in these cases.
"...but I paid $66 a gallon for a beer at the last football game I went to...."
I bet they could raise the price another 20 bucks before they take a hit.
We don't NEED to buy bottled water, but we do.
------
But we DO NEED gasoline to get to work or take a someone to an emergency ward. And most of us have no choice.
Nice rationalization for being ripped off -- we can opt for MANY ITEMS in our life, but NOT fuel. There is NO COMPETITION in the gas market, so that we might pick and choose and there is NO alternative transportation for most of us. Totally different situation. Apples and oranges.
What a wonderful example.
The hopeless preaching to the helpless.
The setting:
Cry Baby Heaven.
If we had it your way, last week the gas stations in Atlanta all would have run out of gas, and then the gas stations would not have been able to afford filling up their tanks.
As long as we're at it, can we make tax gouging by government illegal? ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.