[salawat]

I'm saying, when the ship is sinking, it is probably the absolute worst time to go and try to collect all of the life vests on the ship and preach the virtues of the Free Market while trying to fleece people right and left out of whatever you can.

If you happen to be in a fleet of sinking ships, it's an even worse idea to go to other ships, hoard their life vests, and try to sell them back at a markup.

The message here should not be difficult to understand. Those that use the Market to bite the hand that makes the Market possible would be wise to note what happens to the dog that bites the hand that feeds it.

Hell, maybe you're more of a visual person. Obligatory XKCD.

https://xkcd.com/1499/

If you can't understand these basic, generally universal tenets of human existence, I really don't know what else to tell you than to tread cautiously, and don't complain when you end up suffering the consequences for your actions.

If you still don't get it, then I can only assume Mr. Sinclair's nugget is in play.

"It is difficult to get a person to understand something when their salary depends upon them not understanding it."

[Klinky]

The questions were rhetorical. There isn't a free market, and yes, markets should be regulated.

It just seemed odd to laude market competition keeping prices low, while also complaining of people taking advantage of those prices.

[salawat]

They weren't taking advantage of those prices in the sense of getting access to something needed they couldn't otherwise afford. They were exploiting arbitrage opportunities to inflate prices in order to decrease overall access to a universally needed resource.

That represents scarcity inducement via supply chain disruption due to supply that is generally sufficient for a particular area's needs getting diverted to parts undisclosed without the tight feedback chain created by integration of distributor's inventory/purchasing systems. Those are the important signals. Not some idiot chucking things around Willy nilly through Amazon.