Sandy Price Gouging Probed: $7 Loaf Of Bread, $10 Box Of Matches

NBC ^ | 11-6-2012 | AP

[blam]

More than 400 possible cases of price gouging of gasoline and other essentials, including a $10 box of matches and $7 loaf of bread, have been reported in New York before and after Sandy.

Reports are being investigated in New York City, the Hudson Valley and on Long Island by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

[MrB]

It’s not price gouging.

When there are only 3 boxes of matches left,
and some guy is buying up every box in sight,
he’ll stop doing so and let someone else who needs it worse
when the price becomes high enough for him to say “I already have enough”.

High prices in an emergency prevent hoarding and promote efficient distribution of needed resources.

[Gunslingr3]

Who do I report economic ignorance to?

[TYVets]

Supply and Demand

[T-Bird45]

Basic economics teaches that there is no such thing as price gounging, merely pricing that allocates a limited supply. Unfortunately, most politicians have no understanding of economics and prefer to demagogue the matter through self-serving statements and pandering.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

And.......the voters of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will vote like good commies and socialists for Obama to keep doing them in!!! What buffoons, dummies & fools!!!

[blam]

Thousands Of Public Housing Tenants Struggle To Survive Without Heat, Water, And Power - A Full Week After Hurricane Sandy

The hand-written sign taped to the door at the Red Hook Houses said it
 all – “WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!”


A full week after Hurricane Sandy came and went, thousands of furious
 Housing Authority tenants in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan struggled 
Monday to survive in squalid conditions as NYCHA scrambled in vain to
 turn on power, heat and water.


“Nobody comes here to help. It’s the land of the lost,” declared a 
frustrated Ralph Fret, 64, pointing at the black fetid water that 
remained in the basement of his building - nearly to the ceiling. “You
 see all that water? You see a pump anywhere? They’re not doing
 anything.”


As of Monday some 20,000 NYCHA tenants at 108 buildings in 17 projects 
in Brooklyn, Queens and Lower Manhattan remained in the dark on many
 levels – living without heat, water, elevators and light but also
 without word from officials about when things might get back to 
normal.

(snip)


[Safetgiver]

But...But...It’s NOT FAIR ( dumbasses didn’t stock up pre-emergency).

[Maceman]

It’s OK, because Hurricane Sandy gave New York and New Jersey an economic boost because of all the reconstruction that will be needed.

So everyone will have money soon.

</sarcasm>

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Yours is the rational opinion. Alas, the average schmuck reacts emotively to these things, and the politicians know it.

[riverrunner]

People had at least a week notice to stock up on some basics.

For a 100 dollars spent before the storm most people would have been much better off.

I do not have very much sympathy for people who did not perpare some what.

[from occupied ga]

High prices in an emergency prevent hoarding and promote efficient distribution of needed resources.

A fact lost on politicians and media morons.

[Little Ray]

I wonder what they’re doing?
It always mystifies me. Disaster recovery and shelters should only need a supervisory staff. The victims and refuge seekers should provide most of the labor.

[americas.best.days...]

But if a store owner can adjust the price, why not limit
items ‘one to a customer’?

[scooby321]

Ay least Katrina has Media coverage and Sandy hit the Media capital and hardly any coverage.

Covered for Obama

[from occupied ga]

WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!”

No - animals would have been better prepared. Public housing inhabitants are by definition those who made poor life choices and decided that public housing was better than busting their asses working for a living.

Nobody comes here to help. It’s the land of the lost,” declared a 
frustrated Ralph Fret, 64,

So get off your "frustrated" lazy dead ass and do something for yourself Ralph you useless POS. My sympathy meter for those in public housing who expect their fellow citizens to come and provide them the necessities of life for nothing pegs at zero. This is the 0bama voter entitlement mentality for all to see. "I have a problem. When is somone else going to fix it?" SCREW PEOPLE IN PUBLIC HOUSING! DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELVES YOU LAZY SH!TS OR FREEZE. And frankly freeze would be best for everyone else.

I reserve my sympathy for the hardworking New Yorkers (even though they most likely will vote for 0bama)who actually lost something that THEY worked for.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”New Yorkers can report price gouging by telephone at 800-771-7755 or through his office website.
“We are actively investigating hundreds of complaints we've received from consumers of businesses preying on victims of Hurricane Sandy,” Schneiderman said. “Our office has zero tolerance for price gouging.”

That is why I posted this:

Would rising prices(if legal)work better than state controlled Rationing in NJ after this hurricane?( November 03, 2012 · by sickoflibs) ·

Price controls like this cause more problems than good. They deter increasing supply to meet demand, and vice versa.

[albie]

This happened in Florida after Hurricane what’s her face a few years ago. A man loaded a truck with much needed and much wanted water bottles. He drove to Florida to sell the bottle at $4 each only to be stopped and fined for “price gouging”. The water didn’t make it to it’s desination and the people didn’t get gouged. They had no water but at least they saved money. `sarc

[from occupied ga]

But if a store owner can adjust the price, why not limit items ‘one to a customer’?

Suppose a customer legitimately needs more than one. Price provides a better determinant as to the actual quantity of something that one may "need" Example bread: One guy is single, another has two kids. Which is better letting the market determine price so that supply matches demand or limiting consumption? This sort of micromismanagement is what caused the Soviet economy to fail.

[Kartographer]

"Disaster recovery and shelters should only need a supervisory staff. The victims and refuge seekers should provide most of the labor."

They are already handling the pimping, prostitution, drug dealing, stealing, rape and you want them to work at run the place too? UNBELIEVABLE! ;-)