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| Pam Bondi, economic ignoramuses |
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) has warned would-be "price gougers" ahead of Hurricane Irma on Saturday, saying she would say their name "all over" the U.S. if they did not stop.
"It should be criminal, it's not. But I will go after you. We will fine you a thousand dollars every violation, up to $25,000 every single day, and I will be saying your name all over this country not to do business with you again," Bondi told CNN's Michael Smerconish.
"I have zero tolerance. If you are a bad business going after our citizens, we're going to go after you with everything we've got," she said.
Please, someone, get this important discussion between Tom Woods and David Henderson out to Bondi: “Price Gouging” Is Urgently Needed.
-RW
It's really been disappointing how dumb the dialogue has been around the subject the past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI mean, have these people ever heard of supply and demand? Or private property?
Economics professor Steven Horowitz was invited by Smerconish to his CNN show this morning (Saturday September 9th) to talk about the necessity of rising prices during a time of crisis. Smerconish was skeptical but nevertheless let Steve explain the mechanism behind so-called 'price gouging' and the very important role prices play in conveying information to the Market. Horowitz also challenged Bondi to prosecute electricians and contractors when they arrive in Flrida to help rebuild if they charge more than the normal hourly rate. It was a good show and I was glad to see an Austrian economist explain sound economics to the public. One viewer even wrote to Smerconish asking "How is price gouging not the same as supply and demand?" Smerconish agreed that that was Horowitz's argument.
ReplyDeleteFrom childhood people in this country are conditioned into thinking that queuing is fairness. That somehow it is unfair to allocate resources accept by who gets in line first because supposedly everyone has the same chance that way.
ReplyDeleteIt's programmed in to them to such a level they cannot think of things any other way. But they still think the price mechanism should be there to encourage people to do all the hard/dirty/technical work that needs doing. This is the leverage once they admit that. Point out that the people who would be fixing what was broken, cleaning up the mess and so on have a choice. They could earn money taking care of the damage and then pay the high prices for what they need or they can spend the day waiting in lines to get what they need to survive. Since their survival comes before earning a paycheck they'll choose waiting in line than earning a paycheck with nothing to spend it on. Of course if they spend day after day waiting in line, nothing gets fixed.
This is the best I've come up with in getting through to people.
it should be criminal to be mentally retarded, it's not.
ReplyDeleteEqual misery! Equal misery! :)
ReplyDelete