Check out the amazing flurry of Google news links on the word gouging. In my own neck of the woods, I’ve never seen such hysteria about the supposed need to fill up tanks. There was a wild rush on gas stations, which of course produced shortages very quickly, and the prices responded as best they could. One wonders how much gas might have been left for those who really needed it if the anti-gouging police weren’t on the patrol.
Source link: http://blog.mises.org/8513/anti-gouging-hysteria-hits-the-country/
Anti-gouging hysteria hits the country
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In every disaster I have experienced, 1% of my family’s problems concerned the event itself, and 99% of the problems were economic — a lack of availability of retail goods, like food, water, ice, gasoline, batteries, electrical power, etc.
All of these problems exist, or are made infinitely worse, by government.
The economic illiteracy in the population is really a problem. This is ,intential or unintential, amplified by the state.
Everyone knows the planets of the solar system, despite that for most people this is completly dead knowledge, but only a low percentage has a grasp of how high prices come into place.
They even have a hotline and a website for this:
Consumers may contact the Division of Consumer Affairs at http://www.tn.gov/consumer or call at 615-741-4737 or toll-free at 800-342-8385, to report incidences of suspected price-gouging. Consumers will need to provide the name of the gas station, address and the price and grade of the gas being sold. Consumers may also report suspected price-gouging online to the federal government at http://gaswatch.energy.gov/.
In Houston, what little gas remains is being sold at the pre-Ike price of $3.85/gallon. Purchases are limited to $30 and lines run 2-3 hours. At some empty gas stations, people have left their cars because they’re running on empty. People are filling containers to fuel generators as trees are down everywhere and power in some areas may be out for weeks. As with hurricane Rita, there is no gouging in Houston post-Ike. In short order there will be no gas either. And as with Rita, the economic/government-created disaster will be much greater than that caused by Mother Nature
If everybody simple drove off after every 5th fill up without paying that would in part make up for the gouging by the gas companies….they wouldn’t/couldn’t arrest millions of people and try them in court if everyone did it…. d’ya think
If everybody simple drove off after every 5th fill up without paying that would in part make up for the gouging by the gas companies….they wouldn’t/couldn’t arrest millions of people and try them in court if everyone did it…. d’ya think
If everybody simple drove off after every 5th fill up without paying that would in part make up for the gouging by the gas companies….they wouldn’t/couldn’t arrest millions of people and try them in court if everyone did it…. d’ya think
I think, Keith, that you’re on the right track equating socialist policies with out-and-out crime.
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