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Originally Posted by Howard Beale
Stomp all over the Golden Rule at every opportunity
But this is exactly what people are doing. Why is this so hard to understand? When the early buyers buy up excess water because the price is very cheap, they're stomping all over the golden rule for the late buyers, who have no water left to buy. This is why increasing prices is so good.
That you apply the golden rule so narrowly is ****ing weird, man. The early buyers who stock up too much are much more evil than the shop that puts up prices. Yet you're laser focused on money. It's human nature to think in such clownishly narrow terms, but we should be above that.
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to make a couple of dollars once in a while, that's the way to treat each other.
That is how the world works. The free market bringing together of the greedy for money with those greedy for goods. It works amazingly well. In fact it is the only economic system that does work.
There are at least five things that contribute to needed supplies not being available at a reasonable price or at any price:
1. Early buyers overbuying. This is huge, and a price increase dampens this behavior, helping late buyers
2. People being wasteful. This is huge as well, and a price increase dampens this behavior, helping others
3. Suppliers not rerouting goods before the event because of increased costs for abnormal behavior. Again, a price increase solves this
4. Suppliers not rerouting good because of uncertainty (say, only a 30% chance a hurricane will hit badly). Again, a price increase solves this. A free floating price allows risky bets to pay off. It allows the market to properly price risk and prepare for risk.
5. Avoidance of alternatives. When I was in cyclone Yasi, I bought disinfectant and chlorine tablets, not bottled water. I washed down the bathtub and filled it up with tap water, enough for two weeks of drinking and quick washing water should the worst happen. Others might instead choose to buy storage containers rather than water if the price of water goes up. In terms of fuel, people choose to leave their cars and use public transport. Or carpool. In terms of accommodation, people who can will choose to leave earlier rather than stay in a hotel. And so on. Price signals encourage those that can to find alternatives, to prepare earlier, leaving needed supplies for the actually needy.
It's just a slam dunk all around that increasing prices are a good thing in rationing scarce resources and having then left when people need them.