Is there even an economically-definable real thing of price gouging? The only thing I can think of that really would fit at all would be when emergency circumstances give someone a temporary monopoly or near-monopoly on a good, and they seek to extract more surplus for themselves by jacking prices up above market rates. But I agree with Eric that that doesn't sound like what's going on here, and a lot of the outcry over gas prices is just economically ill-informed.

At some point -- I'm not sure exactly where -- it seems to me that the matter spills from an acceptable market adjustment to the ignoring of the "love of neighbor" command.

Personally, if I knew that making a profit was more important to me than being a good neighbor in a crisis, I wouldn't sleep well at night.

Part of the answer might depend on how near to "ground zero" the gas stations were. The closer in proximity to the crisis, the greater perhaps the ethical duty to charge a price more in line with the usual margin of profit.

If it is ethical for a gas station or other store owner to charge simply what the market will bear, then I can't see as to how better-off drivers have any ethical duty to conserve fuel, either.

In many places, such as Florida that have price-gouging statutes in place, this is a legal question, not just a moral one.

Well, as someone who is in this industry (albeit on the very bottom rung, which has a POS terminal attached) and fairly far from the Gulf Coast, I can say that I get enough complaints about the gas prices. Every day, someone will threaten to bring the BBB down on our heads for unethical business practices (aka, price-gouging), usually accompanied by random vulgarities and crude gestures.

And the worst part is that the station just down the block is a nickel per gallon more than we are.

Most of the pain at the pump is simply market forces. So the best way to see if someone is actually gouging is to do a little informal survey of gas stations on your normal commutes to and from work. And judging from what I've been seeing on this message board, if you're in the West, Mid-West, or Upper Plains, expect gas to start between 2.90 and 3.50 per, depending on local conditions. See anything too far over that mark, then start thinking about calling someone "a worthless, heartless pricegouger only looking to make a buck on the pain and suffering of others" gouger, as a customer did to my face last Wednesday.

And never did the smile-and-Have-A-Nice-Day make me want to go postal more...

Short term?

greg

At some point -- I'm not sure exactly where -- it seems to me that the matter spills from an acceptable market adjustment to the ignoring of the "love of neighbor" command.

But consider this...if a station owner keeps his price below what the market will bear during a time of panic-buying, he may very well run out of gas and have to put up an "Out of Gas" sign. If that station happens to have a convenience store, they'll then lose most of the profits from food sales (which probably is more than what they normally make from gas sales), feed into the panic, and possibly lose regular customers to a competing station.

Eric,

Jesus said the cost of discipleship is high. It just seems to me that in today's world, it is always Christianity viewed through the lens of capitalism instead of capitalism viewed through the lens of Christianity.

How will the convenience store operator make out compared to those who have had both their jobs and homes wiped out? What kind of loss will be suffered. I certainly wouldn't expect the owner to suffer such a loss as to have the store close or the owner not to be able to pay his/her own obligations.

Anyway, I wrote at "some point." I don't have all the facts to know. I'm just saying that if a store owner claims to be Christian, then they must balance the need to make a profit against the call to take up the cross, which by its nature is an act of denial and sacrifice.

What I am saying is that if the store owner is not limited by an anti-gouging statute that they must nevertheless weigh the pros and cons. Will keeping prices down drive the store owner out of business? That would be one thing. However, if it is merely that the owner would have reduced profit, then maybe the duty to take up the cross exceeds the dollar.

Christians must constantly examine their lives to distinguish between "money" and "love of money."

Also, if the store owner ended up making huge profits, then I would be disappointed if only a small amount of that was turned around toward charitable disaster relief.

I'm aware that convenience stores make almost all their money off of store sales and not gasoline, as the per-gallon profit is just a few pennies.

I just don't want to see the "good samaritan" story re-written to read that the man needn't have stopped if it would have interfered with his profit for the day.

Over the past 30 years as a whole, American wealth has skyrocketed -- not for all, but for many. Yet, giving to church has remained rather miserly.

The front page of the June 26th Kansas City Star had an article laying out how the oil industry created a shortage of refining capacity for the specific purpose of driving up their profits much as Enron and other energy companies gamed the market in California. Take that as the base on which the concentration of refineries in the area affected by Katrina resulted in a disproportianate effect on our energy resources from this hurricane. Of course the profits that they'll make over the next few months will dwarf the cost of repairs.

It just seems to me that in today's world, it is always Christianity viewed through the lens of capitalism

That's certainly not what I meant to say, and I certainly don't condone a gas station owner increasing his profits during a crisis, but I don't expect him to act in a way that will hurt his business, either (and possibly even add to panic buying).