KY Gov. Matt Bevin issues "price gouging" emergency order

[Occam's Banana]

Statist logic: "When things become more valuable, they shouldn't be permitted to actually become more valuable."

Bevin is supposed to be one of "ours" - but per usual, when the rubber meets the road ...

Gov. Bevin issues Price Gouging Emergency Order during winter storm
http://www.wlky.com/news/Gov-Bevin-i...storm/37599590
WLKY (23 January 2016)

Gov. Matt Bevin has issued an order aimed at protecting customers from price gouging during the winter storm, which has affected most of the commonwealth.

The price gouging emergency order is effective as of 7 a.m. Saturday.

“In coordination with state authorities, I have put in effect prohibitions on price gouging in order to ensure Kentuckians pay appropriate prices on essential services and supplies during this winter storm,” said Bevin.

[...]

The order allows the Attorney General’s Office to, “Be on the lookout for consumers and prosecute, where appropriate, any instances of price gouging including, generators, building supplies, chainsaws, hotel rooms and other necessary goods and services at an exorbitant price in a time of disaster.”

The order will remain in place for 30 days, but may be extended past that time as needed.

“Kentuckians should never be subjected to price gouging by retailers and this is especially true during a natural disaster,” Attorney General Andy Beshear said.

[...]

[timosman]

[rp08orbust]

What an idiot.

[Kotin]

Ummm what???

[GunnyFreedom]

Well there's a bad idea. Now when someone desperately needs a generator to actually save a life, there won't be any left.

[Occam's Banana]

Well there's a bad idea. Now when someone desperately needs a generator to actually save a life, there won't be any left.

I recall seeing a piece John Stossel did (for "20/20" I think) back after hurricane Katrina ...

Apparently, the people down there were getting countless truckloads of donated bottled water - so much of it that they could have gone swimming in the stuff if they had wanted to. Some lady who was being interviewed said that they didn't want or need any more water, but that they desperately needed generators. Some guy in Tennessee or (ironically) Kentucky saw the interview and managed to put together enough money to rent a truck and buy a bunch of generators from Lowe's or Home Depot or some such place. (This guy was unemployed at the time, IIRC.) Then he headed down there to sell those generators to the people who so badly needed them. Of course, he charged as much as the market would bear - and as a result, after selling a few of them, he was reported and arrested for "price gouging." All the remaining generators he had were seized and warehoused as "evidence" of his "crime"- and throughout the rest of the aftermath of the Katrina disaster, those brand-new generators gathered dust, remaining unused by anyone ...

As part of his story, Stossel interviewed the prosecutor who had handled the case.

The smug prick actually boasted about how he had "protected" the victims of Katrina from the vile depredations of an exploitative "price gouging" interloper ...

(I leave it as an exercise for the reader to consider what kind of incentives were thereby signalled to others who might have acted to fill the urgent need for generators - were potential suppliers more likely to say "hey, let's get some generators down there to those people!" or were they more likely to say "meh, to hell with it!" ... ?)

[LibertyEagle]

Great example, Occam.

[Natural Citizen]

Well. Heh. It makes me feel better knowing we're okay with the govt spending a hundred dollars or so for a hammer. Whackobirds.

[GunnyFreedom]

Well. Heh. It makes me feel better knowing we're okay with the govt spending a hundred dollars or so for a hammer. Whackobirds.

What does that have to do with the price of rooster eggs in China?

[oyarde]

Ummm , did not the snow all start to melt by Mon ? Hotel prices are locked in for four weeks ? WTF ? What am I missing here ?

[Henry Rogue]

Makes me want to send Bevine a truck load of bottled water.

I recall seeing a piece John Stossel did (for "20/20" I think) back after hurricane Katrina ...

Apparently, the people down there were getting countless truckloads of donated bottled water - so much of it that they could have gone swimming in the stuff if they had wanted to. Some lady who was being interviewed said that they didn't want or need any more water, but that they desperately needed generators. Some guy in Tennessee or (ironically) Kentucky saw the interview and managed to put together enough money to rent a truck and buy a bunch of generators from Lowe's or Home Depot or some such place. (This guy was unemployed at the time, IIRC.) Then he headed down there to sell those generators to the people who so badly needed them. Of course, he charged as much as the market would bear - and as a result, after selling a few of them, he was reported and arrested for "price gouging." All the remaining generators he had were seized and warehoused as "evidence" of his "crime"- and throughout the rest of the aftermath of the Katrina disaster, those brand-new generators gathered dust, remaining unused by anyone ...

As part of his story, Stossel interviewed the prosecutor who had handled the case.

The smug prick actually boasted about how he had "protected" the victims of Katrina from the vile depredations of an exploitative "price gouging" interloper ...

(I leave it as an exercise for the reader to consider what kind of incentives were thereby signalled to others who might have acted to fill the urgent need for generators - were potential suppliers more likely to say "hey, let's get some generators down there to those people!" or were they more likely to say "meh, to hell with it!" ... ?)

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Someone spends $250 on a snowblower, goes home, clears his driveway and parks his new purchase in the garage.

Or

Someone spends $2000 on a $250 snowblower, goes home, very carefully cleans his driveway, sidewalk, garden path etc, puts up a sign "Snow Blowing, $40 per hour" Is busy day and night to pay off his damn $2000 snowblower and all his neighbors get their driveways cleaned for a hell of a lot less than 250 bucks.

[Krugminator2]

Not good.

I can't think of one example where Rand, Amash, or Massie ever said something this egregiously wrong. This isn't a topic where there is any shade of gray.

[LibForestPaul]

Great example, Occam.

Do you have sympathy for boobus who desires this? Should I have sympathy for their idiocy? Honestly, part of me does? Seeing someone hurt themselves is sad. But, I have no intentions of helping anyone but myself nowadays. Cold, but works.

[PRB]

be thankful it's not confiscation?