You don't have to have an ipod, you have to have gas.
Gouging at a Home Depot for plywood, during a time of crisis is illegal.
Gouging a the price of a hotel room during a hurricane is illegal.
Supply and demand has nothing to do with those two scenarios, even though supply of plywood may be short, or hotel rooms may be few, the companies are still not allowed to gouge.
What needs to be determined is if "gouging" is what's truly going on with the oil companies.
If you do not raise the price of an item that is in great demand there will be none left. Simple economics.
Lets get a definition gouging. Say Company A has a profit margin of 7%. What % profit margin would it need to get to for it to be considered gouging?
Says who? I don't even own a car.
It sounds to me what you're saying is-
'I reckon I need it therefore you must provide it to me at a price I can afford'.You know what we call that don't you? Well, the dems call it heaven. Californians call it rolling blackouts. The Brits call it the NHS. But it's commonly known under the generic heading of 'socialism'.
Marx is a sexy guy to some I guess...