----- Original Message ----- From: "Gautam Mukunda" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <brin-l@mccmedia.com> Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 2:24 PM Subject: Re: "The Doom That Came To N'Warlins - II" Meets "Gas Prices"
> --- Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > When threads collide... > > > > It occurred to me that the answer to the original > > question in the > > "Gas Prices" thread was "looting," just being > > engaged in by > > corporations, and not individuals. > > > > I think that whatever punishment is meted out to > > individuals caught > > looting stores ought to be brought to bear upon > > corporations who > > engage in looting in the form of hyper-inflated gas > > prices. > > > > Dave > > Because obeying the law and maintaining property > rights is the same thing as stealing things at gun > point. But, there are laws against hyperinflation of prices after disasters. Heck, they exist is Houston, where zoning is considered part of the planned Communist takeover. :-) After Alicia, a much smaller hurricane, people were charged with price gauging for charging as much as 5x to 10x the previous going rate for tree clearing, etc. People who charged higher prices that were consistant with the reasonable and customary overtime rates (say 1.5x to 2x) were not subject to prosecution. > And clearly it's a good idea to make sure that > there is no incentive whatsoever for corporations to > prevent shortages and create stockpiles. It's always > reassuring to know that no matter how brutally bad the > mistakes we made in the past were (see price controls > on gasoline in the 1970s)...there are people who want > to do it all over again. But, I think we can discern between guarding against price gauging and trying to wrestle the market into an unnatural position with wage and price controls. Let me give an example. The spot price for wholesale gasoline went up about $0.40 to roughly $2.25/gal. That's just market forces at work, and government intervention to control the price would be counterproductive. If someone is selling retail gas for a $5.50, it has little or nothing to do with the wholesale price rise. It has a lot to do with preying on the fears of people. The price gauging laws that we have in place address the latter, not the former. So, if someone is breaking those laws, they are not just lawfully executing their property rights. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
