Post by Origanalist on May 16, 2020 17:35:39 GMT -8
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said "he was ready to 'throw the book' at those who hiked prices on essential goods by five or ten times their usual value." He said:
I’m calling them out: Pusateri’.s I heard that they’re selling hand wipes for $30 a tin? That's disgusting. Absolutely disgusting that a company like that would be selling hand wipes for that cost….It's beyond belief….Nothing gets me more furious than someone taking advantage and price gouging the public that are in desperate need of these items.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Let’s consider the circumstances of Pusateri's price gouging, but let’s also consider the circumstances related to the price charged by the government for its so-called universal healthcare system. This seems appropriate in light of Ford’s concern about providing adequate healthcare resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to Pusateri’s price gouging.
Pusateri's charged $30 for Lysol disinfecting wipes, which is roughly ten times the prepanic price.
In contrast, as I have written before, the cost of socialized healthcare in Canada in 2018—approximately $4,389 per capita—was twenty-three times the cost of private healthcare in the early twentieth century, measured by how long a person must work to pay for healthcare. And that’s a conservative estimate.
At this point, someone might say “Ah, but the high price of health care is not caused by the government's monopoly. Rather, it reflects the rising cost of modern medical technology.” This argument is unconvincing. There are many complex products—e.g., computers—for which competition and technological innovation produce lower prices.
The government's price gouging is more than twice as bad as Pusateri's price gouging. Unfortunately, government price gouging—through taxation—is hidden from view because healthcare is free to consumers at the point of service, whereas consumers must pay Pusateri's directly for their disinfecting wipes. Because the phrase “price gouging” has ominous implications, it should only be used to describe a situation where people are forced to pay a specified price, such as when the government forcibly taxes people for healthcare.
This is not the case with Pusateri's, which cannot legally force people to buy disinfecting wipes. If no one buys disinfecting wipes from Pusateri's, they will eventually lower their price. On the other hand, if people voluntarily purchase the wipes, Pusateri's higher profits will prompt other retailers and manufacturers to increase the supply of wipes to meet the increased demand, which also leads to lower prices. This is the effect of competition in an unhampered market.
It is equally important to remember that if you pay Pusateri's $30 you know for certain that you are getting what you pay for—the disinfecting wipes. Not so with the government's socialized healthcare, as revealed by the Fraser Institute's 2014 study:
continued.. mises.org/wire/governments-are-real-price-gougers
I’m calling them out: Pusateri’.s I heard that they’re selling hand wipes for $30 a tin? That's disgusting. Absolutely disgusting that a company like that would be selling hand wipes for that cost….It's beyond belief….Nothing gets me more furious than someone taking advantage and price gouging the public that are in desperate need of these items.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Let’s consider the circumstances of Pusateri's price gouging, but let’s also consider the circumstances related to the price charged by the government for its so-called universal healthcare system. This seems appropriate in light of Ford’s concern about providing adequate healthcare resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to Pusateri’s price gouging.
Pusateri's charged $30 for Lysol disinfecting wipes, which is roughly ten times the prepanic price.
In contrast, as I have written before, the cost of socialized healthcare in Canada in 2018—approximately $4,389 per capita—was twenty-three times the cost of private healthcare in the early twentieth century, measured by how long a person must work to pay for healthcare. And that’s a conservative estimate.
At this point, someone might say “Ah, but the high price of health care is not caused by the government's monopoly. Rather, it reflects the rising cost of modern medical technology.” This argument is unconvincing. There are many complex products—e.g., computers—for which competition and technological innovation produce lower prices.
The government's price gouging is more than twice as bad as Pusateri's price gouging. Unfortunately, government price gouging—through taxation—is hidden from view because healthcare is free to consumers at the point of service, whereas consumers must pay Pusateri's directly for their disinfecting wipes. Because the phrase “price gouging” has ominous implications, it should only be used to describe a situation where people are forced to pay a specified price, such as when the government forcibly taxes people for healthcare.
This is not the case with Pusateri's, which cannot legally force people to buy disinfecting wipes. If no one buys disinfecting wipes from Pusateri's, they will eventually lower their price. On the other hand, if people voluntarily purchase the wipes, Pusateri's higher profits will prompt other retailers and manufacturers to increase the supply of wipes to meet the increased demand, which also leads to lower prices. This is the effect of competition in an unhampered market.
It is equally important to remember that if you pay Pusateri's $30 you know for certain that you are getting what you pay for—the disinfecting wipes. Not so with the government's socialized healthcare, as revealed by the Fraser Institute's 2014 study:
Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada have noted that patients in Canada die as a result of waiting lists for universally accessible health care.
Our analysis estimates that between 25,456 and 63,090 (with a middle value of 44,273) Canadian women may have died as a result of increased wait times between 1993 and 2009.
Our analysis estimates that between 25,456 and 63,090 (with a middle value of 44,273) Canadian women may have died as a result of increased wait times between 1993 and 2009.
continued.. mises.org/wire/governments-are-real-price-gougers