Price Gouging Technocratic Cranks
Sep 13, 2017
Economic Policy Journal - In The New York Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin provides a pretty decent explanation for why economists cheer on "price gouging" during disasters:[S]everal respected economists from the Milton Friedman school of free-market theory take it seriously. They contend that anti-gouging measures, by effectively enacting price controls during emergencies, remove the incentive for consumers to conserve essential supplies. They also say that the incentive for suppliers to bring goods to dangerous areas - or keep extra stock on-hand before disasters - becomes distorted in ways that hurt people..."
tags : Texas Tech in the News