Fraser Institute defends price-gouging amidst COVID-19 pandemic

    URL https://Persagen.com/docs/fraser-institute-defends-price-gouging-amidst-covid-19-pandemic.html
    Sources Persagen.com  |  https://north99.org/2020/04/09/fraser-institute-defends-price-gouging-amidst-covid-19-pandemic
    [Update, 2023-06-09, deprecated: "404 Page not found: error". 2020-04-21 Internet Archive snapshot here |  other sources (cited in situ)
    Source URL https://web.archive.org/web/20200421152003/https://north99.org/2020/04/09/fraser-institute-defends-price-gouging-amidst-covid-19-pandemic/
    Authors Kian Malekanian, a Toronto-based writer with North99.org
    Date published 2020-04-09
    Curation date 2020-04-09
    Curator Dr. Victoria A. Stuart, Ph.D.
    Modified
    Editorial practice Refer here  |  Date format: yyyy-mm-dd
    Summary While Canadians and politicians alike become increasingly fed up with the price gouging of everyday goods, the Fraser Institute is stepping up to defend the practice.
    Main article Fraser Institute
    Related Inflation
    Keywords Show
    • anti-gouging laws | disaster profiteers | economic theory | face masks | higher prices | pandemic neoliberalism | pandemic profiteering | politicians | price controls | price gouging | price-gouging | prices | prices skyrocket | profit-seeking | profiteering | profiteers | self-interested behaviour | skyrocket | skyrocketing prices | toilet paper
    Named entities Show
    • British Columbia | British Columbia New Democratic Party | COVID-19 pandemic | Canada | Canadians | Conservative | Doug Ford | Fraser Institute | John Horgan | NDP | New Democratic Party | Ontario | Steven Horwitz
    Ontologies Show
    • Society - Charitable giving & Practices - Politics - Countries - Canada - Organizations - Nonprofit organizations - Fraser Institute
    • Society - Business - Management - Business administration - Corporate law - Corporate crime - Profiteering
    • Society - Business - Management - Business administration - Corporate law - Corporate crime - Profiteering - Pandemic Profiteering
    Contents
    • Update
    • Main Article
    • Additional Reading

    Update

    Comment (2023-06-09): I noted the original link for this article,

      https://www.readthemaple.com//2020/04/09/fraser-institute-defends-price-gouging-amidst-covid-19-pandemic/

    was giving a "404 Page not found" error. Since publication, North99.org has become The Maple  (described here).

    Neither of the websites for nor The Maple carry that article, nor do they mention (their Search utility) the Fraser Institute.

    The earliest Internet Archive snapshot for this North99 (2020-04-09) article is 2020-04-21, found here  |  local copy

    Main Article

    While Canadians and politicians alike become increasingly fed up with the price gouging of everyday goods, the Fraser Institute is stepping up to defend the practice. Price gouging refers to the practice of aggressively increasing the price of a good above what is deemed reasonable. Reports of price-gouging have flooded Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from face masks to toilet paper has seen prices skyrocket. That's why governments have intervened to stop price-gouging and deter disaster profiteers.

    The Fraser Institute article, however, argues that trying to stop price-gouging is no good. The argument is based on basic economic theory. If you let the "prices do their job" says the author [Steven Horwitz], the market will correct itself. The article goes on to defend "entrepreneurs" profiting from a crisis. Their profit-seeking behaviour is actually good for the citizenry according to the Fraser Institute. The real problem, the Fraser Institute posits, is the self-interested behaviour of the politicians that work to stop price-gouging.

    John Horgan, the NDP Premier of British Columbia has said that there is a "special place for price-gouging profiteers." Conservative Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has called price gouging a "disgusting activity." He has warned price gougers who are "hiking the price five times, ten times what it should be," that his government is coming for them.

    Additional Reading

  • [Fraser Institute, 2020-03-27] Price Controls and Anti-gouging Laws Make Matters Worse.  |  local copy

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