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Florida Price Gouging, Russian Tragedy, Reducing Corporate Welfare

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.       Florida Price Gouging – As Florida residents were preparing for the latest hurricane, they went on a shopping spree, buying plywood, bleach, batteries, and other products that would be needed in an emergency.  In many cases, people bought far more than they needed, which meant that others who came behind them were out of luck.  For example, a newspaper article quoted a woman who said she went to the store and bought 15 bags of ice.  She said she didn’t really need the ice, but she got it “just in case”.   This probably means that another woman, who really did need the ice, was not able to get it and, as a result, lost all the food in her freezer.  Other people filled the gas tanks of all their cars with gas, leaving spare cars with full tanks of gas in their garages as they evacuated.  Again, this probably meant that other people, who needed the gas in order to evacuate, were unable to get it.

Why are these Florida residents so wasteful?  Are they evil, greedy, and inconsiderate?  No.  They are wasteful, because the price of the products was not raised to reflect their scarcity in an emergency.  If the prices had been raised to reflect the scarcity, then people would have been much more careful, buying only what they really needed, and leaving the rest for others who wanted the products enough to pay the higher price.  There would have been ice for the woman who needed it in order to preserve her food, and there would have been gasoline for people who needed it in order to evacuate or to get to a hospital in an emergency. 

Unfortunately, businesses are afraid to raise their prices to a level that reflects the scarcity of the products, because they do not want to be punished for “price gouging”.  People are so concerned that the businessman might get a windfall profit from raising his prices to reflect the true scarcity of products, that they insist the prices remain the same despite the emergency.  This puts potential customers in a very bad situation – unable to find the supplies they need to protect their homes and families.  So here is another situation in which a misunderstanding of economics, a blind hatred of business people, and the intrusion of ignorant “do-gooders” leads to suffering, and perhaps even death.

2.       Russian Tragedy – The recent murders of hundreds of children, parents, and teachers in Russia at the hands of Islamic terrorists are truly sickening.   What kind of religion could possibly condone and even encourage such brutal conduct?  This should remind us of what we are really up against in the world today – people who have no respect for human life and who think they are carrying out God’s will by killing the “infidels”.  I would think the Russians would be glad to grant the Chechens their independence, if for no other reason than to get rid of them. 

As I was discussing this situation with my assistant, Carolyn, she said she was struck by the low standard of living that was shown in the photos of the school and the surrounding area; it appeared to be a scene from back in the 1920’s.  I had become familiar with such scenes in my visits to Russia – buildings falling apart, potholes large enough to lose entire cars in them, elevators that don’t work, outhouses, dirt roads, cutting napkins into tiny slivers to conserve paper, and the whole place being run down and “under repairs”.  This kind of misery is the natural result of the socialist system that today’s liberals want to impose on us.  Unfortunately, they take our capitalist system and all its benefits for granted and assume that we will continue to be prosperous and to be able to take care of the poor and disabled under their “compassionate” socialist system, in which we rob the rich to give to the poor.  It sounds great if you don’t think about it too much, but, in real life, it is a disaster. 

3.       Reducing Corporate Welfare – A recent 6^th Circuit court decision determined that it was illegal for a state to grant special tax breaks to a company for expanding or relocating in that state.  Wouldn’t it be  wonderful if this were the beginning of the end of corporate welfare?  We would all be better off if the states simply reduced taxes for everyone, making their states more conducive to entrepreneurs and to the establishment and growth of all businesses, rather than creating special benefits and kick-backs for certain favored businesses at the expense of others. 

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