Right, Roy, and don’t forget what happened to California’s electric power industry after their disastrous, bastardized attempt at regulated deregulation went ashore on the twin rocks of loophole manipulation and mechanical failure. To borrow a phrase, if we constructed buildings the way we enact regulations, the first woodpecker to appear would destroy civilization.

Kevin Miller interviewed Attorney General Roy Cooper on WPTF this morning, and Cooper pointed out that N.C.’s “price-gouging” law only applies to declared state of disaster, which he said is a thing distinct from state of emergency. In fact, he actually came across as willing to let the price hikes ride (which of course he should, absent a law to enforce, but when does that ever stop a politician?), encouraging people simply to remember which stations were “taking advantage” of the situation. Yes, there was an underlying assumption that someone was taking profits unjustly, yet IMO, we still heard a cautiously worded (if somewhat brief) endorsement of market economics.

The Foundation for Economic Education reprinted an essay from Hurricane Charley yesterday:

Laws against rising prices during emergencies are a double-whammy on consumers. They encourage people to empty store shelves to satisfy relatively unimportant needs, and they discourage entrepreneurs from making speedy shelf restocking possible. Nice policy.

Meanwhile, there are still two stations charging $2.99 in Clayton (Kangaroo near I-40, and Wal-Mart); the going range this morning seemed to be $3.09 to $3.39.