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[–] daskapitalist 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

Price gouging is how you solve shortages. Anyone whining about price gouging simply doesn't grasp economics. Here's how it works: a good is in unusually high demand, such as bottled water after a hurricane. Sellers charge much more than normal. Suppliers are then strongly incentivized to truck or boat or freaking carry in more because of the high margin. The end result? Not running out of crucial supplies during the middle of a disaster.

[–] [deleted] 1 point 5 points (+6|-1) ago  (edited ago)

[Deleted]

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[–] Anson 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

@alopix loves socialism, talk to him. although now that trump has picked up steam he's denying he had anything to do with bernie sanders

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[–] daskapitalist 1 point 1 point (+2|-1) ago 

It's all about outcomes. Donated water is free. Water sold at a markup is plentiful. When you're suffering a disaster, running out of essentials is far worse than paying a few extra shekels.

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[–] 1812-was-not-a-tie 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

The key is that when a good is scarce, some sort of rationing will take place.

Once you look at it from that point of view, the question becomes what sort of rationing is preferred. You may want to have rationing be loving, caring, and fair, like in a happy family, but that doesn't work for nations (see: communism). If instead you allow prices to respect the laws of supply and demand, that has the beautiful side-effect that it creates economic incentives to help.

Hell if the prices get high enough, I'll be driving in water from up here, 2,000 miles away. I'm not a heartless profiteer, I just have my own busy life that I can't put on hold. Unless the price is right.