- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 23,117
People have been killed for less...
Best not to feed the trolls.
People have been killed for less...
Sanitizer isn't the only option available to disinfect your hands. Buy some soap and let him sit on the 20,000 bottles. If people think that hand sanitizer is their only option, then they are the idiots.
Everclear and vodka are cheaper.Bourbon working well. Smells great. Bit expensive.
You may disagree, but that doesn't make it any less against the law. If you can mobilize your fellow citizens to change the law, go right ahead. I predict you will be unsuccessful.
Bourbon working well. Smells great. Bit expensive.
Everclear and vodka are cheaper.
I don't care about the law as it has no effect on my life one way or the other. If someone wants to hoard sanitizer I'll just find a less expensive option. It's the fools who pay panic and pay $50 for hand sanitizer that encourage this kind of behaviour.
You need 70% alcohol to be effective. Most liquors fall way short. Everclear is an exception.
On the other hand, in a post a few days ago, which is a long time now, in one of the threads that were closed, I shared a study in 2010 or something like that, showing a mere 5 part-per-million solution of sodium hypochlorite, the main ingredient of common bleach, can kill SARS virus. And the SARS virus is one in the family of the coronavirus.
Now, 5ppm is about what is in my backyard pool. To disinfect, I go luxurious, and put some pure strength bleach in a small vial to keep in my pocket when I go to the store. I think I will have to dilute it out to 1:10 or something. How many ppm is that?
In my state, price gouging in a declared emergency (as is the case now) is illegal, and the Attorney General's office will prosecute violators. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/AG/Press_Releases/2019/Price-Gouging-in-CT-handout-final-(2).pdf?la=en
It is a very popular law and I expect that he will receive many complaints. Some other states have similar laws. If "Eric" the truck driver thinks Amazon is his main worry, he may be in for a rude awakening.
You think it doesn't have any effect on your life because you just see it in one small aspect.
What if gas stations decided "hey it is a free market!" and called each other and colluded to set the price of gas at $40 a gallon during a time of crisis? Would that have any effect on your life?
Oh, I understand the economic arguments against price gouging laws. You have stated them clearly and concisely. But it's still the law unless and until it is changed. And I would bet that not a single one of those arguments crossed these people's minds when they were doing this. They just saw an opportunity to profit and took it.S
Don't shoot the messenger - think about it. Price gouging is good. Outlawing it is bad, even (especially) if it feels good.
-ERD50
So how about when this guy gets injured from the mob, the hospital he is taken to decides to raise their treatment price on him by 10,000% because, hey, "free market, yo?"
Oh, I understand the economic arguments against price gouging laws. You have stated them clearly and concisely. But it's still the law unless and until it is changed. ....
Sweet, so next time there is a hurricane, those states with toll roads should be able to use the supply/demand justification to raise the tolls to $100 per car. Hey, if you don't like it, walk!
The fact that you go to ridiculous examples demonstrates how weak your case is.
In a hurricane, they want you to evacuate. If it would help, they should eliminate the tolls, not raise them.
It all depends what action you are trying to motivate. If we want to motivate people to not buy 10x what they might need, just to be sure, let the price rise. It will discourage the level of hoarding It's really basic economics and is also covered in the field of "behavioral economics".
-ERD50
No, it is cornering a market. A really rich person could devastate an area. What if Bill Gates was evil and decided he would buy up the entire inventory of all of the grocery stores in a area during a crisis? He could do it with sofa money. There is no way it would be good for the market as it takes time to refill supply channels.
My case isn't weak, I just have not had enough coffee or time to think of the 10,000 examples where your logic fails. I'll spend a little more time and point it out to you in a few minutes.
I was clear. I'm not talking about cornering a market.
Bill Gates can do anything he wants. Let's talk real life, and what happens on average.
As I said, the only way that guy could attempt to illegally profit by buying up everything was because prices were kept artificially low. That created a black market for him to attempt to profit. If the prices floated, he couldn't compete.
It's completely different for the examples I gave, where the price float creates motivation for more supply. That helps everyone.
-ERD50
The bleach bottle in my cupboard says it is 6% which is 60,000 ppm. If you dilute it 1:10, you'll be down to 6000 ppm, which should be more than adequate.