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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito who wrote (78494)	7/28/2006 6:15:27 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

I find it boring that you're so fixated on this, given that the phrase "price gouging" is common parlance, with a well understood definition. Not really. Its a very subjective term which is why I asked AS what he means by it. If your going to really have a conversation rather than shout slogans at each other, defining terms can be important. If too people are using the term to mean slightly different things than you will never understand each other. Agreement in a forum like this is unlikely but it would be nice to at least achieve understanding. There is a legal definition in many states that applies to sharply raising prices on essential goods or services, in anticipation of or during an emergency. The problem with calling this gouging is that it mainly serves as a slam, and an attempt to bias the conversation against the normal operation of market. When supply is tighter or demand suddenly increases the price will go higher. If you don't let the good or service be rationed by price than it will be rationed some other way, perhaps through political or personnel connections, or through who has the most time and energy to stand in line waiting, or through explicit rationing (each person gets a coupon from the state allowing them to have a certain number of or amount of some good, or if there isn't enough of them for that perhaps you have a lottery), or just from running out of the good and then no one else gets any. I don't see any reason to see any of these methods of rationing to be superior to rationing by price, in fact they are usually vastly inferior. Calling rationing by price "price gouging" could from a certain point of view be reasonable, if the absence of such "gouging" would allow people to have simple easy access to scarce goods or services. In fact price ceilings reduce the incentive for people to make an extra effort, pay the extra cost, and take the extra risk to bring more of any particular good or service to the area of scarcity. See edlotterman.com mises.org catallarchy.net catallarchy.net I think such laws are counterproductive in most cases but at least it gives a more specific definition. OTOH I don't see how that definition fits what AS's arguments. There is no specific emergency to hang "price gouging" on. What AS is talking about might be termed "overcharging", except that term also refers to charging more than the agreed upon price. It really amounts to "charging more than I think they should", as far as I can tell, but if AS (or you) have some specific method that you would apply objectively to determine if and when high prices can be gouging I'd like to get a look at it. Tim