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 Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla
Renton, I'm gonna use this thread to hail you on the econo-com.
WV was just hit with a water crisis and I imagine there was a run on the stores. What are the merits for price gouging in this instance considering the capacity for the federal gov't or private industry to meet the demand without them? It seems to me like there won't be a desperate lack of water and consumers aren't being forced to stretch their paychecks on the back of a rare event they have no responsibility for. I don't see the harm.
There are only merits for price gouging when sellers decide to do it. They do it because the price of the product HAS CHANGED. Prices should always be a reflection of demand vs supply. In your situation it sounds like there would be little incentive for anyone to gouge their prices, as demand vs supply has remained stable. If there is a real shortage and people are being forced to go without water, or waste other resources such as time and fuel to find water at the price controlled price, then that would be a situation that some gouging would have helped out. The gouging-allowed result would probably be a transient bump in the price of water followed by a boost in the supply and subsequent price subsiding.
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