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Price increases after natural disasters
When a natural diaster such as a hurricane hits aregion, basic com-modities such as gasoline and bottled water experience increasing demand and shrinking supply. these shifts in demand and supply curves cause prices to rise,leading some people to complain about price gouging. but, as journalist jonh stossel argues in this opinion piece,there is an upside to higher prices after a disaster strikes.
In praise of price gouging
By john stossel
Politicians and the media are furious about price increase in the wake of hurricane katrina. they want gas stations and water sellers punished.
If you want to score points cracking down on mean, greedy profiteers, pushing anti-gouging rules is a very good thing. but if you are one of the people the low protects from price gouging you will not fare as well.
Consider this scenario: you are thirsty-worried that your baby is going to becoe dehydrated. you find a store that is open, and the storeowner thinks it is immoral to take advantage of your distress,so he will not charge you a dime more than he chargeed last week. but you can not buy water from him.
It is sold out.
You continue on your quest, and finally find that dreaded monster, the price gouger. he offers a bottel of water that cost 1 last week at an outrageous price say 20.you pay it to suevive the disaster.
You resent the price gouger.but if he had not demanded 20,he’d have been out of water. it was the price gouger’s exploita-tion that saved your child.
It saved her because people look ut for their own interests. Before you got to the water sellr, other people did. At $1 a bottle, they stocked up. At $20 a bottle, they bought more cautiously. By charging $20, the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really need it
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