Episode #92 - The Truth About Price Gouging

As I record this episode in late March 2020, the world is living through the Coronavirus crisis. Recently my wife and I were discussing the toilet paper shortage. I explained that the reason there isn't any toilet paper now is because the stores did not raise the price when they saw a surge in demand. She argued that price gouging during a crisis is wrong and immoral. I tried to explain why it is actually a good thing. Full disclosure: She was not convinced. Hopefully you will be after listening.

We discuss some basic economic concepts like: What is a price and how do they fluctuate. Then we dive into the topic at hand - price gouging. This is followed by an examination of pandering politicians and price controls and the morality of price gouging. We wrap up the episode discussing the benefits of price gouging and whether or not these arguments hold up when a crisis is regional versus worldwide.