DC Braces for megastorm

[Docfeelgood]

"Obama hates white people"

[Dinner]

Wait... The warnings were given continuously for 5-6 days prior to the storm hitting on every TV and radio station, in every publication, with posters put up around the city, and the NYPD even sent loud speaker trucks driving around the city loudly informing people what was going to happen and that they needed to evacuate and some of these brain damaged idiots are still claiming they didn't know?

I'm calling bull****. They knew exactly what was coming but chose to ignore the warnings and to not stock up on any supplies ahead of time. Now they're just spouting excuses for their stupidity.

[Docfeelgood]

[Imran Siddiqui]

How is it moral to choke off supplies to people in need?

The moral aspect being not to take advantage of other peoples' desperation to charge them loads extra because the elasticity of demand just went through the roof. May it lead to "less efficient" distribution of resources? Of course, but guess what, the supplies would have gone to people who could afford to pay the inflated price. Those mostly in need would have been out of luck. So great for rich people, not so great for poor folk (at least with price gouging rules they would have a chance of getting the good rather than be completely shut out).

[regexcellent]

No, that's dumb. If you can charge high prices for necessary supplies, people will come in with the necessary supplies to take advantage of high prices. Price controls hurt everyone, most of all the people who need the "price gouged" products.

[giblets]

"Obama hates white people"

Except he doesn't. Unless he hates his own mother?

[giblets]

The moral aspect being not to take advantage of other peoples' desperation to charge them loads extra because the elasticity of demand just went through the roof. May it lead to "less efficient" distribution of resources? Of course, but guess what, the supplies would have gone to people who could afford to pay the inflated price. Those mostly in need would have been out of luck. So great for rich people, not so great for poor folk (at least with price gouging rules they would have a chance of getting the good rather than be completely shut out).

Sure, price controls can benefit the poor who would rather wait in line for hours than pay inflated prices, at the expense of rich people whose time has a higher market value. But is this really a cost effective means of making the poor better off?

[Felch]

But with price gouging there would be greater supply, since traders have an incentive to enter the market. Isn't it better to have more supplies delivered to a disaster area? Aren't people better off paying 8 dollars a gallon for plentiful gas than lining up for 4 dollar rationed gas?

Bear in mind, Imran, everybody has different moral priorities. Your price controls are just as offensive to some people as gay bashing is to you. Why are your morals an appropriate basis for legislation, and Rick Santorum's aren't?

Edit: obviously an x-post

[Dinner]

Not to mention the response has been so amazingly better then Bush completely ignoring New Orleans for a week after Katrina except to do one fly over photo op after which he went to his vacation home. We're talking night and day difference with lots of supplies and equipment pre-positioned in place BEFORE the storm just so it could be more easily made available after the storm. The evacuation was much, much better, again run by FEMA even if some dumb ass idiots refused to leave when told. Then you have the fact that the coordination of efforts between Federal, state, and local officials was exactly as it should be with very fast response times and you see why this storm has had a better response then Katrina which most Bush officials simply ignored for a week hoping it would go away.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sure, price controls can benefit the poor who would rather wait in line for hours than pay inflated prices, at the expense of rich people whose time has a higher market value. But is this really a cost effective means of making the poor better off?

In a disaster area you may want a bit more fairness than all-for-one mentality, for order reasons as well as moral reasons.

There is a reason that anti-gouging rules are in just about every state. Because it offends the morality of the populace for people to be gouged during crisis.

[regexcellent]

I know folks up here who would buy jerrycans and drive them down in their pickups if gas were sufficiently pricey in NYC.

[Docfeelgood]

Except he doesn't. Unless he hates his own mother?

[regexcellent]

In a disaster area you may want a bit more fairness than all-for-one mentality, for order reasons as well as moral reasons.

There is a reason that anti-gouging rules are in just about every state. Because it offends the morality of the populace for people to be gouged during crisis.

Your concept of fairness is stupid and prevents people from getting the supplies they need. Your idea of fairness makes everyone worse off. It is not more fair to limit supply artificially in order to make a lottery out of getting gas in which poor people are at an equal footing with rich people than to just allow more people to get gas at a higher price.

[Imran Siddiqui]

But with price gouging there would be greater supply, since traders have an incentive to enter the market. Isn't it better to have more supplies delivered to a disaster area? Aren't people better off paying 8 dollars a gallon for plentiful gas than lining up for 4 dollar rationed gas?

How much additional supply you think is able to provided in such disaster areas? You think there are tankers even able to ship at a higher level, even if they wanted to for the next week or so?

Bear in mind, Imran, everybody has different moral priorities. Your price controls are just as offensive to some people as gay bashing is to you. Why are your morals an appropriate basis for legislation, and Rick Santorum's aren't?

Um, that's the exact point I was making. But people just want to argue on Poly.

[regexcellent]

How much additional supply you think is able to provided in such disaster areas? You think there are tankers even able to ship at a higher level, even if they wanted to for the next week or so?

A lot. If availability is as low as it seems, in a metro area like NYC, prices would climb through the roof and people would flock there with gas.