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by ardy42 2252 days ago
> Price ceilings cause shortages. Every time.

No, not in the situation. The shortage exists regardless of price.

We're not in econ 101 territory, so lets not analyze the situation with econ 101 tools.

2 comments

It's not hard to argue in favour of temporary emergency price controls using Econ 101. The field already makes a big distinction between the short-term and long-term, defining the later by the time required for new investments in production. That distinction is the crux of the shortage, so it seems it's with the bounds of what an introductory microeconomics course could handle.
No, this isn’t really true. Look at all the people hoarding toilet paper because the price is below market equilibrium. If the price were higher, there would be less hoarding, and more people could wipe themselves.