Disscusion

APA 250 words

This week’s discussion topic is about Price Gouging. Price gouging occurs only under a narrow set of legally defined circumstances. Price gouging is a legal concept, not an economic concept.

When a natural disaster occurs and the governor of the state declares a state of emergency then the price gouging law of that state will go into effect, but only if the state has such a law.

The economic effect of price gouging laws is to put a Price Ceiling on all goods and services covered by the state’s price gouging law. Price ceilings always cause shortages.

Assignment Summary:

1) Read "Florida Lawsuits Allege Price Gouging," and "They Clapped: Can Price-Gouging Laws Prohibit Scarcity?"

2) Read the article from chapter 4 in your textbook: "In the News: Price Increases after Disasters" (pages 84-85) - (Week 1) - The article is the same in both the 7th and the 8th editions, but the art work varies. 

Also read the article The Problem with Price Gouging Laws.

3) Watch the Price Gouging video above and the second price gouging video (Video 8) under the YouTube link under the Week 1 menu. (Video 9 is about price ceilings in the apartment rental market, you may wish to watch this for additional background on price ceiling impacts.)

4) Summarize the main points of each article and decide which graph (A, B, C, or D) can be used to explain each event and why – be specific. More than one graph may apply. (SupplyAndDemandGraphs2.doc andSupply and Demand Graphs.pptx ).

5) What is your conclusion? Is price gouging a good thing or not? Or is it just necessary? Explain why.

6) Post your views to the discussion board and refer to at least two different concepts from this week’s Chapters. Your illustration of concepts MUST include an explanation why you think they are are relevant to the week’s topic using specific information from the articles, videos and other research that you have done.