Price Gouging is both the consumer's friend and enemy

...but mostly a friend.

After a disaster, price gouging gets a pretty bad rap. Someone gets hit by an earthquake or a snowstorm, and they have it rough. When prices go up, it seems like a slap in the face on top of the disaster. But rapid price jumps are likely to help the healing process speed up and get more goods where they are needed. On the other hand, folks feel deeply that there is an honest and just and fair price for a thing, and when you add that feeling to the pain of high prices right when you need a break the most, it is not surprising that folks call it gouging instead of inflation.

Why Price Gouging Is Good--even for the buyer

More on why price gouging Is good

In some cases, Price Gouging Saves Lives

It Doesn't Matter That Price Gouging Is Truly Good, Because It Feels Evil

Alas, in that last article, I pick up an objectivist undertone from the scornful use of the word
"altruist."

Why not put the issue in terms "the other side" uses? For instance, why
not ask the anti-gougers why they want people to suffer more and suffer
longer? Put them on the defensive, if they are wrong.

David Oakey