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.
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.
As long as we're at it, can we make tax gouging by government illegal? ;)
Ridiculous post. The stations jacked up the price in some cases overnight to $5 $6 a gallon. If thats not price gouging I will pee in my gas tank. There has been a spate of mergers in restraint of trade. in big oil Exom-Mobil being the most egregious. The Bush administration has turned a blind eye to the obvious anti trust violations. They just posted record gross profits of 134.49B on revenues of 295.70B... What loon can conclude there is no price gouging with profits ringing up that high?
Rare common sense from the Denver Post, the Front Range mouthpiece of the loony left.
I'd like to ask all the little babies crying "price gouging" how they know what the stations paid for the gas and what their profit margins are. Most gas stations have a set profit margin and make the same amount on gas no matter what the price. The oil companies also have to pay for the oil they refine and sell. If you think the oil companies are making obscene profits, buy their stock, instead of listening to the economic ignorance of bill o'reilley and calling yourself a victim.
To all of you that believe supply and demand should always rule, please answer the following...
A nuclear device goes off in your city/town and you & yours have survived the initial blast. You need to get your family out, but the roads are gridlocked. Is it okay with you if when you go to the airport to evacuate, the airlines are charging $50,000. a ticket?
Supply and demand dictates that if they can load up the planes at that price, they should be able to do so. They would only have to lower the price when there were no more takers at $50,000., then $40,000, then $30,000., etc.
I ask again, would you be okay with that or would you be screaming at the government that you're being gouged?
"We were seeing the prices go up in four or five days from 60 to 70 cents..."
If this increase were due to a gas tax, they wouldn't consider it a legislative gouging of the public. They'd consider it money owed by the consumer to the protective state.
Actually, that is refutable, and false. He's referring to the FEAR of a supply shortage (or its cousin, anticipation), not an actual shortage. That's why the dramatic price increases in much of the country during the past two weeks include some price gouging.
There were some areas with localized shortages, even a few outside of the hurricane areas. Higher prices in those areas was justified.
For the rest, large price increases were based on fear (or anticipation), rather than fact. IMO, consumers in those areas should take note of the stations that did that to them, and mark them for personal boycotts later, if possible. And if there are state laws against price gouging in those areas, the law should be enforced.
NOTE: The above contains some generalizations that might need to be modified in some specific cases.
there is something wrong with the fundamentals of supply and demand argument. If the supply of fuel in this country is so fragile that we face the old 'disruption of supply ' every time a fly craps in california, we are in for big trouble. The oil companies have not done what is necessary to insure sufficient supply at the pumps and they have used every excuse to explain it and the federal gov't has allowed it. There is no supply and demand fundamental in play when the supply is controlled buy a monopoly. Every disruption results in record profits. Why not make sure we have more disruptions?