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August 18, 2004
Hurricane Charley Is the Least of Their Worries
It didn't take long. The vultures are already circling about the carcass of storm-ravaged Florida.
"Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist filed lawsuits Tuesday against two hotels he said engaged in price gouging and other unfair practices as people fled Hurricane Charley," reports CNN.
Oh, heaven forfend that a business should charge the price the market will bear for a product in short supply! Better to force businesses to keep their prices at pre-disaster levels and thus end up with an even worse shortage than otherwise would occur. (See this article for a more thorough explanation of why "price gouging" is a good thing.)
You have to love this paragraph from the CNN report:
"Further penalties can come from the state's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, which provides for civil penalties of $10,000 per violation or $15,000 for violations against a senior citizen or handicapped person."
So tell me: Why is charging a senior citizen or handicapped person an "exorbitant" price 50 percent worse than charging the same price to a young or able-bodied person? Answer: Seniors and handicapped people have powerful lobbies.
Posted by Mike Tennant at August 18, 2004 10:43 AM