Lynne Kiesling Regulatory capture is one of the defining phenomena in the political economy of regulation. What is regulatory capture, exactly? In a Tech Liberation post from 2010, Adam Thierer offers this definition: “Regulatory capture” occurs when special interests co-opt policymakers or political bodies — regulatory agencies, in particular — to further their own ends. …
Michael Giberson Today the Master Resource blog published my list of ten price gouging topics needing economic research. As I point out in the introduction, many economists think price gouging is too simple to be worth studying. After all, it is just a kind of price cap, and we know how price caps work. My response is that …
Economics Research Topics in Price Gouging from Odd-even Rationing to Guilt and Shame Read More »
Michael Giberson Is price gouging like highway robbery? The Journal News, from the suburbs north of New York City, said: “Add shame to penalty for gouging“: Given the extraordinary cost of just about everything in New York, it is often difficult to distinguish price-gouging, which is both illegal and despicable, from the usual highway robbery, …
New York Newspaper Says “Add Shame to Penalty for Gouging” Read More »
Michael Giberson One idea advanced by proponents of anti-price gouging laws is that after disaster strikes people should put aside their usual self-interests, join in with the community, and share in the burden of recovery. What these proponents often miss is that normal market adjustments will support a sharing in the burden of recovery, even …
New Yorkers Didn’t ‘share the Pain’ of Higher Gasoline Prices During Emergency Read More »
Michael Giberson The New York Attorney General’s office continues its aggressive pursuit of price gouging violations, announcing another 12 cases last week. From the press release: “Our office will continue to take enforcement actions against price gougers because ripping off New Yorkers is against the law,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “We are actively investigating the hundreds of …
Another Round of Price Gouging Charges in New York Read More »
Michael Giberson A graphic illustrating states with price gouging laws (blue) and states without them (gold). For a list of the states with citations and related notes, see my earlier “List of States With Anti-Price Gouging Laws.” So far as I know, the only serious attempt to explain why some states do have price …
Michael Giberson The New York Attorney General’s office takes action against 13 gas station owners in the state for price gouging. Like last week’s prompt response by New Jersey, this is unusually quick work for price gouging cases. A few quotes from the AG’s press release: NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today …
New York State Also Moves Quickly on Price Gougers Read More »
Michael Giberson At least the Governor understands that emergencies can drive costs up. We’ll see if this understanding goes beyond the expenditure of public funds to include excess costs faced by small business in New Jersey once the state gets around to prosecuting price gouging cases in earnest. Christie tax story here. One example of …
Headline: “Gov. Christie Expects Property Taxes to Rise in Sandy-ravaged Areas” Read More »
Michael Giberson Edward McAllister and David Sheppard, with Reuters, have a great story on the connection between disaster preparedness and the nature of retailer ownership. They report that corporately-owned retailers, such as convenience-store chain WaWa and vertically-integrated gasoline refiner/retailer Hess, drew on corporate resources in advance of the storm to be ready to return stores …
Gasoline Supply Chain Stories in Post-sandy New Jersey and New York Read More »
Michael Giberson Something new in the realm of price gouging law enforcement: speedy action. Frequently states begin investigations of consumer complaints only after the emergency is over, conclude investigations months later, and then begin negotiating some sort of settlement with accused stations. You may recall that New Jersey only finally reached a conclusion in its …
New Jersey Moves Rapidly on Price Gouging Investigations Read More »
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