In an effort to extol the virtues of capitalism my colleague Gary Wolfram a piece in which he blames government cost controls for long lines at gas stations after Hurricane Sandy.
Unfortunately this is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. The reality is that after this catastrophe there was a spike in demand for gasoline since the power was out for millions of people. Additionally the supply was limited since some gas stations did not have backup generators handy. Simple supply and demand was the reason for long lines at gas stations after Hurricane Sandy not socialism.
To further the fallacy Mr. Wolfram claims that no such lines existed for other products such as "milk, bread, coffee, sugar etc...”. A quick image search of Hurricane Sandy grocery stores would refute this position. Also contrary to what Gary would have you believe there were long lines for items like milk, bread, water, and sugar. And unlike is assertion the market didn't suddenly produce more of these items to meet demand. Instead you can find photos of empty shelves.
Of course it should be noted that if price controls are somehow to blame then we should be seeing long lines for milk every day since milk has been price controlled by both Republicans and Democrat lead congress' since 1949.
But the biggest problem here is this idea that somehow Democrats, liberals, independents, and R.I.N.O's who support some government involvement are against the free market. Polls show this isn't even remotely accurate. Instead these polls show that Democrats have a general mistrust of large corporations similar to the mistrust that Republicans have for the Federal Government.
Those who support legislation against price gouging in cases of emergency are not fighting against capitalism, they are fighting for the fair treatment of those who would be pushed out of the market if prices of everyday staples suddenly spiked.
The truth is Hurricane Sandy represents the best of government not the worst.
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