economix
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@Ann0@JacksonStrong That's right, because what would happen is that all those with the ability to transport gas in neighboring states would flood in to make a profit till the situation equalized. http://goo.gl/4fcRV
After Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced a crackdown on “gougers.”
John Shepperson was one of the "gougers" arrested. Shepperson and his family live in Kentucky. They watched news reports about Katrina and learned that people desperately needed things. <b>Shepperson thought he could help, so he bought 19 generators. He and his family then rented a U-Haul and drove 600 miles to an area of Mississippi left without power.
He offered to sell his generators for twice what he had paid for them, and people were eager to buy. But police confiscated his generators, and jailed Shepperson for four days. The police kept his generators. </b>
Did the public benefit? No.
It's price "gougers" who bring the water, ship the gasoline, fix the roof, and rebuild cities. You might not believe me but will you believe Nobel Prize-winning economists Gary Becker, Vernon Smith and Milton Friedman? All three have said “ gouging” is good. Milton Friedman said, “price ‘gougers’ save lives.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/01/in-praise-price-gouging/#ixzz2BYa3efgV
Mr. Carr,
You embarrass yourself.
1) First, price controls predictably cause shortages. Basic economics:
"Nobel prize winner Milton Friedman said "We economists don't know much, but we do know how to create a shortage. If you want to create a shortage of tomatoes, for example, just pass a law that retailers can't sell tomatoes for more than two cents per pound. Instantly you'll have a tomato shortage. It's the same with oil or gas."
2) Second, do you remember when you trashed AirBnB when they were in the middle of a regulatory kerfuffle, and then turned around to boost them once they had hit a billion dollar valuation? You realized they'd become a Silicon Valley player despite your attempts to drag them down and wanted to rewrite history.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/25/fawlty-logic
"Sorry AirBnB Hipsters, I'll Take Health and Safety Over the Cult of Disruption"
"Airbnb's Soaring Valuation Should Be A Wake-Up Call To Independent Hotels"
Look, entrepreneurs remember who their real friends are. The nature of starting a new business is that the media, the regulators, and the competitors are all against you UNTIL YOU WIN. Once they realize that they can't beat you, and have to join you… at that point they start heralding you as the innovation that your real customers and friends knew you were all along.
You are incapable of recognizing this pattern even when it plays out repeatedly in your own work. Because you don't even have the basic self-awareness to recognize that you will write yet another mea maxima culpa about Uber one year hence.
After they've won.