Saved by the Invisible Hand
by digby
John Stossel proves once again that he's lives in a libertarian utopia only inhabited by arrogant teenagers and celebrity millionaires:
Christie would help more if he could suspend New Jersey’s foolish law forbidding price increases of more than 10% during an “emergency,” and if he’d apologize for bragging that the state will crack down on price “gouging!
What politicians call “gouging” is just the free market. When markets are allowed to work their magic, lines disappear… If gas stations could raise prices, many of those drivers would wait, and drive less. Drivers who really need gas would be able to get it. At the same time, entrepreneurs would rush gasoline to gas stations that have the highest prices. The lines would quickly vanish, and prices would come back down.
And the drivers who really "need" gas (not sure who it is that doesn't, but apparently there are a lot of them) will just happen to be those who are flush with cash and can afford the stupid high prices. And hey, if a few people have to lose their jobs, go without food, are unable to get to a hospital or evacuate due to the lack of money, well they should have thought of that before they decided not to get rich. You've gotta take responsibility for your bad choices in life.
Seriously, this worship of markets is just as faith based as any other religion. And just like all the others it features an invisible Deity directing traffic from somewhere else. I'm not much of a believer in any of them but if I had to choose I'd pick one of the ones that doesn't require the human sacrifices.
Also too: this.