buffer-overflowed's Journal: Hearings - Price Controls on Essential Commodities

During a state of emergency.

The big problem with doing this is that you will have shortages. The suppliers will charge what the market will bear, which will curb demand so things reach equilibrium. That's the free market.

The problem of course being that the free-market is, well, if anthropromophized, the most uncompassionate SoB ever to exist. This is what price controls attempt to address.

And that's fine. But they'll need to go hand in hand with a sane rationing system. Which I don't think will fly(You mean I can't pay a hell of a lot extra to take a non-essential trip!? PSHAW!).

So, yay for congress trying to look like they're doing something. Next.

If You're Referring to the Oil Baron Sideshow

[Libby Liberal]

One frustrating thing to point out is that the pricing on oil is working just fine in America. There are always going to be times of "windfall profit" in any longstanding industry, and you don't just pass a tax on them as a result. As one guy pointed out on NPR, individuals who bought houses in 2000 and sold them at higher market values in 2004 made a "windfall profit", but nobody's asking that we go after THEM.

And the adjustment in behavior is taking hold now. The SUV love affiar is waning, and more and mo