--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Shemp, you'll love this...
Thank you, Judy. Yes, I did love it, as I love most things that Stossel writes and does with his 20/20 pieces, as you know as we've discussed Stossel in the past. Indeed, for the benefit of those who aren't that familiar with Stossel, he asked the most important journalistic question in the last 50 years: Who has done more to benefit the world, convicted Junk Bond King Michael Milken or Mother Theresa. You can perhaps guess from the gist of the article below what Stossel's answer was... > > In praise of price gouging > John Stossel > > September 7, 2005 > > Politicians and the media are furious about price increases in the > wake of Hurricane Katrina. They want gas stations and water sellers > punished. > > If you want to score points cracking down on mean, greedy profiteers, > pushing anti-"gouging" rules is a very good thing. > > But if you're one of the people the law "protects" from "price > gouging," you won't fare as well. > > Consider this scenario: You are thirsty -- worried that your baby is > going to become dehydrated. You find a store that's open, and the > storeowner thinks it's immoral to take advantage of your distress, so > he won't charge you a dime more than he charged last week. But you > can't buy water from him. It's sold out. > > You continue on your quest, and finally find that dreaded monster, > the price gouger. He offers a bottle of water that cost $1 last week > at an "outrageous" price -- say $20. You pay it to survive the > disaster. > > You resent the price gouger. But if he hadn't demanded $20, he'd have > been out of water. It was the price gouger's "exploitation" that > saved your child. > > It saved her because people look out for their own interests. Before > you got to the water seller, other people did. At $1 a bottle, they > stocked up. At $20 a bottle, they bought more cautiously. By charging > $20, the price gouger makes sure his water goes to those who really > need it. > > The people the softheaded politicians think are cruelest are doing > the most to help. Assuming the demand for bottled water was going to > go up, they bought a lot of it, planning to resell it at a steep > profit. If they hadn't done that, that water would not have been > available for the people who need it the most. > > Read the whole column at: > http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/printjs20050907.shtml > > http://tinyurl.com/9jruh ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
