Good thing we have the government to protect us from price gougers.
"Another year, another disaster, another economically misguided tug of war over the merits of "price gouging." The arrival of COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus, ushered in a predictable boost in prices for essential goods, as well as well-intentioned but ill-advised government attempts to cap what businesses can charge for those items. Such measures certainly leave an impact: eBay, for example, responded to that pressure yesterday, announcing that it would leave the market entirely and pull all coronavirus-related supplies from its virtual stores.
"As you may have noted, we are seeing literally small hand sanitizers like this going for as much as $17," said California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, calling the widespread price increases in the state "unconscionable" and "usurious." Violators in Newsom's jurisdiction face up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. Sen. Ed Markey (D–Mass.) specifically turned to Amazon: While the company and the suppliers it works with "have a right to expect a reasonable return on the products they sell," he wrote in a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos, "they do not have a right to impose unjustifiably high prices on consumers who are seeking to protect themselves against the coronavirus.""
"Another year, another disaster, another economically misguided tug of war over the merits of "price gouging." The arrival of COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus, ushered in a predictable boost in prices for essential goods, as well as well-intentioned but ill-advised government attempts to cap what businesses can charge for those items. Such measures certainly leave an impact: eBay, for example, responded to that pressure yesterday, announcing that it would leave the market entirely and pull all coronavirus-related supplies from its virtual stores.
"As you may have noted, we are seeing literally small hand sanitizers like this going for as much as $17," said California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, calling the widespread price increases in the state "unconscionable" and "usurious." Violators in Newsom's jurisdiction face up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. Sen. Ed Markey (D–Mass.) specifically turned to Amazon: While the company and the suppliers it works with "have a right to expect a reasonable return on the products they sell," he wrote in a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos, "they do not have a right to impose unjustifiably high prices on consumers who are seeking to protect themselves against the coronavirus.""