Snow storms socked in the East Coast and planes aren't flying. The rent-a-car alternative is there, but of course many thought of that so the stock of cars is down. According to this article, cars can be had for $2000 per day...
"We were thinking of the option of driving down, but the car rental company gave us a quote of $2,000," Hussain said, laughing. She said many rental car companies are out of vehicles.
One commenter was outraged. How come? These will all be one way rentals, meaning the car company will have to rotate them back to their locations as well. At $2000, the car companies will roust good drivers out of bed, have them drive cars a couple of hundred miles into the snowstorm areas, pay the drivers double time, and cars will be available for those who badly need it, and can pay.
Now "gouging" lasts at most a few hours, because at that price everyone gets the same idea, and car comes flowing in. As the cars show up, the rates drop. Someone with a $2000 car for sale may head out to the airport and unload it quick. Those "exploiting" are subject to regression to the mean, in other words they will overshoot demand and the rent-a-car companies will be offering cars at lower than normal rates, helping the poor and the less desperate.
The government has no way to address the market problem of shortage, and the market is excellent at getting the job done. Let the free markets work!
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