Prices serve a valuable purpose in economics. They tell us about the value and scarcity of goods/services. With the current disaster, there is less supply of gasoline (it is more scarce). The market needs a way of telling consumers this; that way is the increasing of prices. This increase in price encourages us to reduce usage and look for substitutes.
Prices gouging is just a pejorative term that really has no economic meaning. I am sure that many of us engaged in “price gouging” during our lives. This may have taken for the form of maximizing our profits is our businesses or perhaps getting the highest price for a house we were selling.
I too get a little upset at first when I see a bump in gas prices. But that’s when I turn off my emotions and turn on the thinking part of my brain. And then I try to use less gas…. that is my small part in helping with the problem (the prices of gas problem, not the real problem which is the humanitarian one).
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