David Nicklaus has published some quotes on his blog from Eric Dixon’s op-ed about price gouging. I’m impressed by the economic knowledge displayed by the second comment to the post (I’m not even going to bother addressing the first comment):
It’s also appropriate for government to perform its normal role in assuring that people affected by disasters get the services that they contract for — for example, that if they pay a contractor to repair their roof, he will actually do so for the price agreed upon.
But it’s not necessary or useful for government to attempt to repeal the laws of supply and demand for dealing with disasters. One doesn’t need to be a die-hard libertarian to recognize that that will only slow recovery efforts and cause people to suffer longer.
It’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t a question of whether or not the state should take action after natural disasters. As this comment highlights, the state can either help recovery efforts with wise policies, or it can make things worth through misguided policies like punishing "price gouging."
