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Price gouging and the duty of easy rescue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2020

Elizabeth Brake Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Brake [Opens in a new window]
Elizabeth Brake*
Affiliation:
Philosophy Department, Rice University, MS 14, Houston, Texas 77251-1892, USA
*
Email: ebrake@rice.edu
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Abstract

What, if anything, is wrong with price gouging? Its defenders argue that it increases supply of scarce necessities; critics argue that it is exploitative, inequitable and vicious. In this paper, I argue for its moral wrongness and legal prohibition, without relying on charges of exploitation, inequity or poor character. What is fundamentally wrong with price gouging is that it violates a duty of easy rescue. While legal enforcement of such duties is controversial, a special case can be made for their legal enforcement in this context. This account distinguishes, morally, price gouging by corporations from that of individual entrepreneurs.

Keywords

price gougingduty to rescuedisastereasy rescueexploitation

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Type
Article
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Economics & Philosophy , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , November 2021 , pp. 329 - 352
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© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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