31–40 of 509 posts
It's very interesting to me that (nearly) everyone agrees that reselling disaster supplies like masks, hand sanitizer, etc. for a large profit is terrible, but somehow selling literal essentials like food, housing, and healthcare for profit is just fine.
Increased production doesn’t occur because the economics don’t work, it doesn’t occur because there’s just no way to physically ramp up production that fast. That’s not really a critique of the economics. If production could be increased that fast the manufacturers would. An important point the article didn’t address is that high prices direct resources to more important uses. If prices are very high then hospitals m…
> If prices are very high then hospitals may be the only ones who can afford them, versus people on the street. Outlawing price gauging alone just ensures masks go to people who don’t need them as much as doctors. The problem is that doesn't seem to reflect the reality of the situation. Why are hospitals still experiencing shortages? What stops manufacturers and sellers from limiting supply to drive up prices? This i…
This has to be one of the most late-stage capitalist things I've heard all pandemic.
Increased production doesn’t occur because the economics don’t work, it doesn’t occur because there’s just no way to physically ramp up production that fast. That’s not really a critique of the economics. If production could be increased that fast the manufacturers would. An important point the article didn’t address is that high prices direct resources to more important uses. If prices are very high then hospitals m…
That would seem to be the likely end result if it were greatly restricted.
We've already seen that with healthcare in the US. It is expensive, so is it used on more important people?
It's very interesting to me that (nearly) everyone agrees that reselling disaster supplies like masks, hand sanitizer, etc. for a large profit is terrible, but somehow selling literal essentials like food, housing, and healthcare for profit is just fine.
The broad point of all of this is that society should be structured in a way that rewards act as incentives to people to create more benefit to others. That's the core idea behind an Adam Smith type capitalism.
Increased production doesn’t occur because the economics don’t work, it doesn’t occur because there’s just no way to physically ramp up production that fast. That’s not really a critique of the economics. If production could be increased that fast the manufacturers would. An important point the article didn’t address is that high prices direct resources to more important uses. If prices are very high then hospitals m…
> If prices are very high then hospitals may be the only ones who can afford them, versus people on the street. Outlawing price gauging alone just ensures masks go to people who don’t need them as much as doctors. The problem is that doesn't seem to reflect the reality of the situation. Why are hospitals still experiencing shortages? What stops manufacturers and sellers from limiting supply to drive up prices? This i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was able to get kleenex and paper towels saturday because the grocery store is now limiting people to one purchase per day. I am sure there are people who need more than that, and any system of rationing should allow for exceptions. But when people insist that a "free" market is inherently correct, it's no different from insisting that your OS scheduler is perfect even though some processes never get to run https:/…
The article and my comment are not about rationing. The article is about anti-"price gouging" laws.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If prices are very high then hospitals may be the only ones who can afford them, versus people on the street. Outlawing price gauging alone just ensures masks go to people who don’t need them as much as doctors. The problem is that doesn't seem to reflect the reality of the situation. Why are hospitals still experiencing shortages? What stops manufacturers and sellers from limiting supply to drive up prices? This i…
AFAIK, hospitals aren't experiencing a shortage because of lack of money to buy masks. They're experiencing a shortage because there aren't enough masks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> high prices direct resources to more important uses I don't think that that is always true. High prices will redirect scarce resources to those who have the means and desire to pay for them. That doesn't necessarily mean that those uses are more important, regardless of how one defines what it means for the resource usage to be important.
> High prices will redirect scarce resources to those who have the means and desire to pay for them. That's true. Don't you think it's also true that those who need a good more have a greater desire to pay for that good? I understand that not everyone has the same ability to pay, but we can't crucify the market on the cross of equity. History shows that when you try to allocate goods based on feelings (some random of…
Well just signed up to the Economist today for their coverage of bug governments. Time to unsubscribe now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> High prices will redirect scarce resources to those who have the means and desire to pay for them. That's true. Don't you think it's also true that those who need a good more have a greater desire to pay for that good? I understand that not everyone has the same ability to pay, but we can't crucify the market on the cross of equity. History shows that when you try to allocate goods based on feelings (some random of…
It is both immoral and incorrect to measure need based on who has the most liquidity.