Oct 17, 2007
A Leftist Teaches Dubya Econ 101
by Liberty and Power
As George Bush deploys troops to the far corners of the planet in the name of bringing the benefits of free markets to mankind, he has vowed"zero tolerance" for"price gougers" who practice the free market at home.
Leftist economist Mark Kleiman has some sensible advice for the president::
The natural result of that situation is that the price of gasoline goes up. In the short run, that doesn't result in any additional supply, but it does reduce the quantity demanded, allowing the market to clear. Unfortunately, the short-run price-elasticity of demand for gasoline is low, so even a modest-sized supply crunch will naturally cause big price increases.
In economics, this is called"market clearing." In politics, it's called"price gouging."
Of course, it's possible by law to keep prices below their market-clearing levels. In politics and law, that's called"price control." In economics, the result of that policy is called"shortage." At any price below the market-clearing level, buyers will want to buy more gasoline than sellers have to sell. The result is either waiting in line, which is a very inefficient means of rationing compared to letting the price rise, or some sort of legal rationing system (no doubt with extra rations for SUV owners and others who"need" lots of gasoline).
Via Julian Sanchez at Hit and Run.
RexCurry.net -
9/22/2005
A new Legal Defense Fund fights laws that ban price gouging during disasters such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Pro Price Gouging Legal Defense Fund (PPGLDF) provides aid to people who are harassed or charged under anti-gouging laws. News media are asked to inform the public that pro bono help is available to buyers or sellers whenever law
enforcement interferes with their commerce.
http://rexcurry.net/price-gouging-legal-defense-fund.html
Criminal defense lawyers are organizing to end shortages caused by the laws and to restore a libertarian free market economy. The laws frighten citizens from offering goods and services to disaster victims, and the laws frighten disaster victims from negotiating for needed goods and services. For more information call 813 238-5371
PPGLDF attorneys are arranging seminars to teach lawyers the libertarian arguments favoring gouging, its morality, and to train lawyers in defense strategies to assist defendants in court.
I am Attorney Rex Curry, and I formed the PPGLDF after personal experiences with price gouging laws during recent hurricanes in Florida.
Florida's Attorney General Charlie Crist created gas shortages where there were no shortages. After Katrina, Crist created a fear of accusation that caused stations to stop selling gasoline that they had on hand. Crist created shortages, misery and suffering. His behavior could have killed people.
The anti-gouging mentality causes deaths, suffering, shortages, misery, and poverty as it did in the former USSR (62 million dead) and the Peoples’ Republic of China (35 million dead). Anti-gouging laws are another example of how the USA’s police state is growing.
Government schools in the U.S. do not teach basic economics, nor economic freedom, individual liberty and property rights. It is another reason why government schools must end. Charlie Crist is the poster child for ending government schools. His office terrorizes providers. Crist is crucifying everyone.
I also argued the motion to suppress in another victory against Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and against drug dogs. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/04-1668.htm
The dog case is presently before the United States Supreme Court. The Court recently asked for an official response and transcripts in the case, peaking interest in the case. Playboy Magazine’s September issue quoted my comment that “drug dogs are natural libertarians - without constant retraining they lose interest in the war on drugs. Let’s return them to protecting people from violence and theft, which is the only proper purpose of law enforcement anyway.”
http://rexcurry.net/drugdog.jpg
All anti-gouging laws should be retired for the same reason that all drug dogs should be retired.
As a member of the renowned National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), I help educate my esteemed colleagues at NACDL, the legal community, and the general public about the beneficence of price gouging.
The NACDL listserv contained posts from some lawyers who have the same economic ignorance as the general public. Some NACDL lawyers opposed price gouging and defended a police-state and stated "Better to have Mussolini than Michael Brown running FEMA," and "Mao more than ever," and "Mussolini .... was, at first, a very good leader" and referred reverentially to the anti-Semitic Karl Marx whose work inspired the worst murderers in history. Marx caused widespread poverty via the same arguments posited against price gouging. Charlie Crist uses similar arguments.
The NACDL is hosting a conference "Defending the White Collar Case: In and Out of Court" at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC on September 22-23.
There is a common misconception that price gouging is only a white-collar crime. Many poor people who desperately need money to buy food, medicine and other necessities are harassed and threatened if they try to sell anything they have to raise needed funds for purchases. The poor are also prevented from buying necessities when police harass and frighten away providers.
The extent to which anti-gouging laws are enforced is the extent to which the laws cause hoarding, shortages, poverty, misery and even mass death.
I issued a challenge to debate publicly the Tampa Tribune newspaper columnist Daniel Ruth, and members of other political groups or media outlets, regarding Ruth's column in which Ruth condemned economic freedom (what Ruth calls "price gouging"). The response against Ruth from the general public was so great that Ruth said he was labeled a "Dork, anti-free market statist $#@%!&@, Dummkopf, liberal, daffy, dolt, stupid, dunce and, oh by the way, socialist." In a second column Ruth, humiliated by my debate dare, would not debate and issued a public apology to me regarding Ruth's earlier column.
The Sarasota Herald Tribune flaunted its ignorance by lamenting "A bag of ice selling for $10." The newspaper will never print a quote like this "I would have gladly paid $10 a bag for ice instead of throwing out the $200 worth of food these idiotic Marxist anti-gouging laws forced me to throw out." -Rick G.
A similar point can be made -but is never made in the media- for gasoline priced at $3 a gallon.
These tales and others have emerged during disasters, serving as chilling reminders that natural disasters bring out the best in many people -- but the absolute worst in economic analysis.
True price gouging is what the persecutors in government do 24/7 with their taxes, spending, debt and police-state behavior. Because of "price gouging" laws, Florida's government (and Louisiana's government etc) kills people and causes widespread shortages and suffering.
Jeb Bush, perhaps your future president, asks snitches to tattle on "price gougers" over a toll-free hotline. Florida's Governor triples his stupidity by also speaking against "hoarding." Hoarding becomes wiser wherever any governor suppresses free market economics.
Florida's Attorney General Charlie Crist and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson duel for their media cheerleaders to see who is the biggest ignoramus and scam-artist on the topic. They both show that the government is a lost cause for liberty. In fact, they are aggressive EVIL against liberty. Their people out-socialize Clinton by more than double (in social spending alone). They and their media conspirators are more proof that government schools must end.
Florida's Attorney General Charlie Crist created gas shortages where there were no shortages. After Katrina, Crist created a fear of accusation that caused stations to stop selling gasoline that they had on hand. His behavior could have killed people. Crist is crucifying Floridians.
Beneficent price-increases (slandered as "price gouging") are banned so that political whores can commit true price-gouging and harm everyone by giving government more money for more violence in the USA’s growing police state.
Thank goodness that capitalism provides so many ways to defeat them and their incredibly deadly dogma.
"Price Gouging" is a concept that only a politician or other short-sighted economic illiterate could coin.
Thomas Szasz quipped “The proverb warns that 'You should not bite the hand that feeds you.' But maybe you should if it prevents you from feeding yourself.”
As Dr. Milton Friedman said “If a government were put in charge of the Sahara Desert, within five years they'd have a shortage of sand.” His books are available on Amazon.com
