The author is completely missing the fact that the flip
side of "price-gouging" is making sure that a scarce
resource is only utilized by those who need it the most.
If there are only 20 taxis, and there are 20 people
desperately stranded who need a taxi, and 200 people
who would just "like" a taxi, then if a taxi costs
$200, those 20 people will happily pay for one.
I think being able to pay 200$ for a taxi is not the same as needing it the most.
This only makes sense if everyone has the same amount of resources to trade. When all you pay attention to is money, the only metric you care about is who has any money.
Comments
I think being able to pay 200$ for a taxi is not the same as needing it the most.
That is true. On the other hand, it is, so far as I'm aware, the closest anybody's managed to come to reliably, consistently figuring out who does.
This only makes sense if everyone has the same amount of resources to trade. When all you pay attention to is money, the only metric you care about is who has any money.