El Opinador Compulsivo

The Angry Economist vuelve a explicar el rol de los especuladores durante las crisis:

In a crisis, certain resources are scarce. They shouldn't be wasted, and they should go to the people who put the most value on them. The best way to discover who these people are, in a free-market society like America, is to let the price of the resource float. The people who have the highest use will be willing to pay the highest price.

This has several pleasant effects: first, it rewards people who have the good sense to keep these resources in stock, available for other people to use when the crisis hits. Second, it encourages other people to work really really hard to increase the supply of this scarce resource, because they know they'll be rewarded by high profits. Third, the higher the profit, the more the resource will flow into the area where it's badly needed, and the sooner the price will drop down to normal levels.

Instead of allowing gouging and its pleasant effects, our lawmakers are doing their best to eliminate these pleasant effects, and ensure that the pain of a crisis lasts as long as possible.

(Más del tema en este post)