Columnist Walter Williams made a very good point in his column today. You know all those stranded motorists trying to escape from Houston last week? Many were abandoning their cars because they couldn't get gas. The National Guard was driving around fuel tankers trying to fill people up, the police tried distribute gas, too. All those people involved in giving out gas when they could have been helping more people evacuate, or perhaps prepared for later rescue missions or whatever. Why wasn't there enough gas in the gas stations? Simple, the local government instituted anti-price gouging measures. Because of this, and the extra cost getting gas to the area would create, not enough gas got to the area. Had gas stations been able to charge what supply and demand dictated, which in this case would probably have been at least $5 or $6, I can guarantee that gas companies would have RACED to get it there.

There is NO such thing as price gouging. I've been going back and forth on this point, but the fact is, if I own a gas station I can charge $10 a gallon, and if you depserately need gas, you'll pay it. And no one else will. Soon enough the gas station will have to lower prices to get more business because the guy across the street is only charging $5, and more people will start to buy gas at my place. The free market and supply and demand make it so price gouging is a myth.