For-profit Corporations Can’t Be Trusted
Michael Giberson Price gouging is “Evil Corporate Plot #1,235,086.” Story includes photographic evidence of the consequences of corporate wheeling and dealing. A gripping tale. (HT to Mungowitz at KPC.)
price gouging
From the “No Surprises Here Department”: Price Controls Cause Chaos in Ethiopian Markets
Michael Giberson Ethiopia devalues currency => prices jump => consumers complain => government issues price controls to stop price gouging => goods disappear from market shelves. Yep, no surprises here. From www.voanews.com: Price Controls Cause Chaos in Ethiopian Markets Price controls on many staple food items ordered by Ethiopia’s government early this month have reduced grocery bills …
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Please State the Nature of the Economic Emergency: a Note on Price Gouging Laws
Michael Giberson The moral intuition that undergirds price gouging laws may be described as “it is wrong to take advantage of people in distress for personal economic gain.” In states with price gouging laws, the laws are typically in force only during officially declared emergencies. This limitation – that they are enforced only during declared emergencies …
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Did They Really Say That? Gasoline Market Stress Coming to Eastern Washington, So Officials Offer Advice
Michael Giberson One consequence of a 14-week project to replace several locks on dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers is that gasoline transportation costs will rise in the area. Some gasoline that would have traveled up the river will have to move by train and truck instead, a more expensive process and one much …
Hotel Rate Price Gouging During Snowstorm
Michael Giberson Or maybe I should title this post, “Hotel charged peak prices during peak demand period,” or better still: “Hotel price gouging promotes public safety.” A Sea-Tac Airport area hotel raised its rates dramatically as it filled up during a snowstorm one night last month, and several patrons were shocked by bills from almost …
Best “Investigation/Price Gouging/Showdown/Violence” Romance Movie
Michael Giberson According to the Internet Movie Data Base, just one movie shows up when you search on keywords “Investigation/Price Gouging/Showdown/Violence” in the Romance genre: The Boss of Big Town. It is a 1942 film in which, “A criminal plot to control produce and dairy products during the wartime emergency is foiled by an courageous …
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Unfair Prices for Holiday Air Travel in India? Any Lasting Effects?
Michael Giberson Leigh Caldwell, at Knowing and Making, notes concerns raised by representatives of India’s government about unfair airline prices during the festival of Diwali. Caldwell mostly ignore the government’s chatter about unfair prices, but wonders how consumer reactions may influence company pricing decisions over time. I think he offers interesting speculations, but I think …
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How to Avoid Violating Florida’s Price Gouging Law
Michael Giberson For a while now Exxon-Mobil Corporation has been seeking clarification from the State of Florida, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) on just how the state’s price gouging law is applied. (Some background in this post from a year ago.) The company wants to know what it needs to do to comply …
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When Emergencies Force Taboo Tradeoffs
Michael Giberson Robin Hanson observes that prospects are not promising for health-case cost containment, in part due to a normal reluctance to give up on sacred values in exchange for money. I wonder if this same psychological factor is activated in emergency conditions which present opportunities to trade the sacred for cash, and if it …
“Price Gouging in the Auction House”
Michael Giberson A complaint is posted to an online forum: … something needs to be said. I have always noted that price gouging is something that occurs on the [Auction House] and notion seems to be prevalant that “If there is someone out there stupid enough to pay that much, I’m going to charge that …