"Price gouging" is one of those emotionally powerful but economically meaningless expressions that most economists pay no attention to, because it seems too confused to bother with. But a distinguished economist named Joseph Schumpeter once pointed out that it is a mistake to dismiss some ideas as too silly to discuss, because that only allows fallacies to flourish -- and their consequences can be very serious.

Read more: Thomas Sowell

Whenever a major disaster strikes, the public is confronted with all sorts of unpleasantness. The source of the unpleasantness is a sudden change in scarcity conditions: The immediate demand for many goods and services exceeds their immediate supply. What to do? The typical response is for prices to rise dramatically. While buyers are not thrilled by rising prices, rising prices are one of the ameliorative responses to changes in scarcity conditions. They get people to voluntarily do what's in the social interest. Let's look at it using a couple of goods and services important to disaster recovery and ask a question or two.

Read more: Walter E. Willams