Ep. 156 Econtradictions: Bob Discusses Free Trade, Welfare Benefits, Price Gouging, and Utility Theory
Bob unveils a new series in which he explains and then evaluates apparent contradictions in the way free-market libertarians handle certain issues.
Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:
- Bastiat’s “Petition of the Candlemakers”
- Bob’s article on price gouging.
- Help support the Bob Murphy Show.
The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.
About the author, Robert
Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.
An addition to the price gouging issue is that the increase price also enables the seller the money required to pay those willing to supply the seller with more. If a package of water is now $20, someone buying packages of water for cheap ($3) can now warrant buying a large quantity and make delivery to the seller in order to profit off of the higher prices. This can result in a lowering of price for the seller to provide water to the people who need it. As this overnight distributor would be providing a necessary service by going out of their way to deliver goods to those in need.
Since part of the increased price is to stop a minority of people from over consuming a needed good in a desperate time, it would only be fair to have those increased prices. To signal to those willing to benefit from the opportunity to supply much needed goods. This would only last for as long as the supply chain is hampered by otherwise innovative and thrifty people looking to supply goods as fast as possible.