Don’t Outlaw Price Gouging After Harvey. Let the Market Work

submitted by voter from sports.yahoo.com

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[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I agree with your points, they make a lot of sense.

I guess it depends on where you are on a spectrum between "helping a fellow out" and "keeping one's hard-earned cash".

I think that's really the core of it. It's just a matter of if the person buying actually has the ability to shop around for the best price, or if it's a genuinely predatory situation that they are trapped in. Similar to the overpriced water during a storm, you cannot shop around for the best hospital when you have a heart attack, you simply go to the nearest hospital as fast as you can. The lack of an actual free market in that situation is what makes it predatory, imo.

[–]danuker 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I was writing an article during our discussion.

I integrated your point in my analysis (the "People that are poor AND sick/disabled" heading), and I believe price gouging should stay illegal for people who are disabled and/or can not shop around nor work during a disaster, but should be legalized otherwise.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Cool! Glad I could help you do research for your article. Looks pretty good :)