This is the point I think others may be missing. Charging suffering people more for something due to an "act of God" type scenario is where gouging comes into play. When supply and demand don't meet due to natural changes in supply and demand (more companies using Rails with even supply causes prices for Rails devs to go up), no one faults higher prices being charged. When demand goes up or supply goes down due to a natural disaster, you can be sure that people will notice.
Is tripling the price on New Years Eve in NYC gouging? Not really - it's the same as prices going up for flowers around Mother's Day or Valentine's Day. Demand will be high and would likely not be met if prices remained the same.
Small bumps in price will probably be tolerated due to acts of God, but not outright gouging.
Again you are missing the consequences. Acting indignant is not going to bring you more oil/gas/water/ice/food. Letting the prices go up will do it. No amount of moral indignation and Talmudic discourse on when its right to charge what is going to change what incentives people follow to actually deliver you the goods in times of disasters.
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This is the point I think others may be missing. Charging suffering people more for something due to an "act of God" type scenario is where gouging comes into play. When supply and demand don't meet due to natural changes in supply and demand (more companies using Rails with even supply causes prices for Rails devs to go up), no one faults higher prices being charged. When demand goes up or supply goes down due to a natural disaster, you can be sure that people will notice.
Is tripling the price on New Years Eve in NYC gouging? Not really - it's the same as prices going up for flowers around Mother's Day or Valentine's Day. Demand will be high and would likely not be met if prices remained the same.
Small bumps in price will probably be tolerated due to acts of God, but not outright gouging.
Again you are missing the consequences. Acting indignant is not going to bring you more oil/gas/water/ice/food. Letting the prices go up will do it. No amount of moral indignation and Talmudic discourse on when its right to charge what is going to change what incentives people follow to actually deliver you the goods in times of disasters.