Economics: The Value of "Price Gouging"

[Martin Hash]

If all you Libertarians deny you’re relying on State Violence to protect you then you better be packing violence of your own.

[Fife]

Well, duh.

Seriously, dude. Fuck your state.

[Martin Hash]

And fuck you “I was there first” assholes.

[DBTrek]

So to recap:

Price point distribution (what detractors call price gouging)

• 1. Maximum efficiency in distributing scarce resources (buyers self regulate, leaving resources available to more people)
  2. Encourages rapid response (sellers rushing to disaster area before government aid arrives)
  3. Encourages retailers to spend extra money to stockpile goods (knowing that the extra capital spent stockpiling can be recovered in sales at increased prices)

Price fixed distribution (price increases forbidden)

• 1. Poor distribution of scarce resources (first buyers encouraged to take far more than they need “just in case” or to resell)
  2. No incentive for rapid response of non-government actors
  3. No incentive for retail stockpiling of needed goods

Guys - one system is clearly more beneficial for those in disaster areas than the other. One offers multiple ways to obtain goods, allocates those goods more widely, and does not infringe on the eventual arrival and activity of the government relief efforts.

This is basically an argument over whether or not an unmotivated, unaccountable government is the *only* option that should be available to people in desperate situations.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

[clubgop]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

They also don't have functioning markets, putting the cart before the horse is a bad idea disaster or not.

[DBTrek]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

This makes no sense, as anyone can look at the few places without reliable, functioning states and easily deduce that their problems aren’t derived from a price point driven economy run amok.

Although the counter example - looking at the disaster relief provided by strongly centralized nations with controlled economies (China, the USSR, North Korea) further illustrates my points splendidly.

[Speaker to Animals]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

It's paradise without regulations, fam.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

They also don't have functioning markets, putting the cart before the horse is a bad idea disaster or not.

That is a very good point.

I wonder if there is any meaningful relationship between functioning states and functioning markets that might tell us something interesting about what happens in a disaster area.

[clubgop]

This must be why places without reliable, functioning states to get in the way famously rebound from natural disasters.

They also don't have functioning markets, putting the cart before the horse is a bad idea disaster or not.

That is a very good point.

I wonder if there is any meaningful relationship between functioning states and functioning markets that might tell us something interesting about what happens in a disaster area.

Roads? Where we are going we won't need any roads?