by Tho Bishop
Mises.org
In 2011, then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, dubbed “Big Sis” by Matt Drudge, unleashed a “See Something, Say Something” campaign to encourage Americans to report “suspicious” activity to the Federal government.
Today, with Hurricane Hermine expected to be the first hurricane to hit Florida in almost 11 years, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (the state’s own “Big Sis”) is encouraging Floridians to report “price gouging,” a term politicians use to smear a business that increases prices to reflect a dramatic increase in customer demand. As FloridaPolitics.com reports, Bondi has even set up a special hotline (1-866-NO-SCAM) for Floridians to out businesses that have prices they think are too high.
Of course the idea that an increase in demand for a good or service will cause its price to increase on the market is one of the most basic economic concepts out there.