Thank Goodness for the Price Gougers!

I've resisted posting about this nonsensical John Stossel piece, because I get so furious every time I even think about him. But this one is so ridiculous, so ghoulish, it has to be commented upon:

Politicians and the media are furious about price increases in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They want gas stations and water sellers punished.

If you want to score points cracking down on mean, greedy profiteers, pushing anti-"gouging" rules is a very good thing.

But if you're one of the people the law "protects" from "price gouging," you won't fare as well.

Consider this scenario: You are thirsty — worried that your baby is going to become dehydrated. You find a store that's open, and the storeowner thinks it's immoral to take advantage of your distress, so he won't charge you a dime more than he charged last week. But you can't buy water from him. It's sold out.

You continue on your quest, and finally find that dreaded monster, the price gouger. He offers a bottle of water that cost $1 last week at an "outrageous" price — say $20. You pay it to survive the disaster.

You resent the price gouger. But if he hadn't demanded $20, he'd have been out of water. It was the price gouger's "exploitation" that saved your child.

It saved her because people look out for their own interests. Before you got to the water seller, other people did. At $1 a bottle, they stocked up. At $20 a bottle, they bought more cautiously. By charging $20, the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really need it.

Of course, the storm-ravaged residents of New Orleans can simply go to their emergency "giant pile of $20s" they left in the Superdome for safe keeping. And by only giving their money to the price-gougers, the survivors make sure their cash only goes to the businessmen that really need it.

I love "at $20 a bottle, the bought more cautiously." It's not, "at $20 a bottle, they didn't buy and their child died of dehydration." Does this guy inhabit some distant planet where everyone has endless means in every scenario? Maybe, if he belongs to a country club.

A commenter at tbogg's joint mentioned this: "So if I have my hand over Stossel's mouth and nose, and agree to give him air for $20 a minute, I am a great businessman? Cool!"

Ditto.