Whenever there's a major hurricane, I always hear about gas stations and other suppliers jacking up their prices to meet the demand. On NPR, I even heard an economist justifying this, saying that if they don't raise prices then hoarders will take more of their product and sell it at higher ones. Those who come first are disproportionately allowed more of the emergency supply because they will buy more of it to place in stock for themselves. A good point is made here, but in the wake of a natural disaster, businesses should be treated as monopolies because they are the only available ones. Treating them as monopolies would ideally prevent price gouging. This technicality would solve the problem of retailers taking advantage of scared people who only want to survive. Anyone who buys from them only to sell at a higher price should also be guilty of it.
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