Climate and Weather
- Thread starter espola
- Start date
Bruddah IZ
DA
What’s Wrong With Price Gouging II? Nothing! Market prices are better than price controls to address shortages
Bruddah IZ
DA
Fearing increases in the price of hotel rooms as a result of the Blue Cut fire, officials in San Bernardino County have declared a state of emergency whereby restrictions on “price gouging” are now in effect. According to District Attorney Mike Ramos, the law is designed to protect innocent consumers from being victimized by “unconscionable” increases in the prices of hotel rooms for Blue Cut fire evacuees.
Bruddah IZ
DA
It never fails. No sooner does some calamity trigger an urgent need for basic resources than self-righteous voices are raised to denounce the amazingly efficient system that stimulates suppliers to speed those resources to the people who need them. That system is the free market’s price mechanism — the fluctuation of prices because of changes in supply and demand.
When the demand for bottled water goes through the roof — which is another way of saying that bottled water has become (relatively) scarce — the price of water quickly rises in response. That price spike may be annoying, but it’s not nearly as annoying as being unable to find water for sale at any price. Rising prices help keep limited quantities from vanishing today, while increasing the odds of fresh supplies arriving tomorrow.
It is easy to demonize vendors who charge what the market will bear following a catastrophe. “After storm come the vultures’’ USA Today memorably headlined a story about the price hikes that followed Hurricane Charley in Florida in 2004. Coakley hasn’t called anybody a vulture, at least not yet, but her office has dedicated a telephone hotline and is encouraging the public to drop a dime on “price gougers.’’
http://archive.boston.com/bostonglo...es/2010/05/04/whats_wrong_with_price_gouging/
When the demand for bottled water goes through the roof — which is another way of saying that bottled water has become (relatively) scarce — the price of water quickly rises in response. That price spike may be annoying, but it’s not nearly as annoying as being unable to find water for sale at any price. Rising prices help keep limited quantities from vanishing today, while increasing the odds of fresh supplies arriving tomorrow.
It is easy to demonize vendors who charge what the market will bear following a catastrophe. “After storm come the vultures’’ USA Today memorably headlined a story about the price hikes that followed Hurricane Charley in Florida in 2004. Coakley hasn’t called anybody a vulture, at least not yet, but her office has dedicated a telephone hotline and is encouraging the public to drop a dime on “price gougers.’’
http://archive.boston.com/bostonglo...es/2010/05/04/whats_wrong_with_price_gouging/
The GISS temperature records are global, so when it is summer here it is winter in, for example, Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. July 2016 was not the hottest month in the record, just the hottest July. Not only that, the absolutely highest month in the record was last February, which I suppose you think is a "winter" month.
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata_v3/GLB.Ts+dSST.txt
Jerk.
Bruddah IZ
DA
It is essentially the same story when stores are selling ice, plywood, gasoline, or other things for prices that reflect today’s supply and demand, rather than yesterday’s supply and demand. Price controls will not cause new supplies to be rushed in nearly as fast as higher prices will. None of this is rocket science. But Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “we need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure.”
Bruddah IZ
DA
Reminds me of the climate Scientist that got trapped in the ice of Antartica a few summers ago.
Bruddah IZ
DA
Knee jerk. Thank's for helping me set the hook again you mullet.
Bruddah IZ
DA
Actually. Good discussion point here. What do you think it will take to run the hotel if every room is filled?
So not only are you acting like an asshole to fire victims, you admit you are doing it on purpose to play a cynical little game.
Bruddah IZ
DA
Good opportunity for you to tell us about your past hotel management experience.
Bruddah IZ
DA
How am I acting like an asshole to fire victims?
In the hotel where I worked, the manager would be pleased that his fixed costs were being divided among more customers, leading to higher profits per room for as long as the situation lasted, as well as the overall higher profits from the volume.
I apologize if that is too much math for you.
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What real Americans do in a disaster, as reported in the Press-Enterprise --
At least 60 Blue Cut fire evacuees slept on cots and rollaway beds in the Courtyard Marriott Hesperia ballroom and on couches in the lobby at no charge the first night after the blaze broke out, General Manager Amy Batista said.
“We were sold out. We couldn’t turn them away. It was quite tragic,” Batista said.
When we were evacuated in 2007 (from 2 neighborhoods!!) we spent the night on a cot (for free) in Qualcomm stadium and were treated to (free) breakfast the next morning, courtesy of businesses that sent food and supplies in by the truckload without thought of taking advantage of people already stressed by the situation. Before we got up from our cots in the morning, our family group received a dozen box of Krispy Kreme donuts from one of their employees who was just walking around handing them out.
At least 60 Blue Cut fire evacuees slept on cots and rollaway beds in the Courtyard Marriott Hesperia ballroom and on couches in the lobby at no charge the first night after the blaze broke out, General Manager Amy Batista said.
“We were sold out. We couldn’t turn them away. It was quite tragic,” Batista said.
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Bruddah IZ
DA
Speaking of cynical.
Bruddah IZ
DA
oh, you did the math?
Bruddah IZ
DA
What point did you actually make?
Bruddah IZ
DA
What about variable cost? Hope that is not too much math for you?
The increased variable costs I can identify easily without looking at any particular hotel would be utilities (lights, ac, water), linens, possible overtime to the cleaning staff, and the cost of the free breakfast buffet if they offer one. If they are making profit on normal days, they will be making more profit when fully booked.