Business Ethics Quarterly 19 (2):275-293 (2009)
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Abstract |
When prices for basic commodities increase following a disaster, these price increases are often condemned as ‘price gouging.’ In this paper, I discuss what moral wrongs, if any, are most reasonably ascribed to accusations of price gouging. This discussion keeps in mind both practical and moral defenses of price increase following disasters. I first examine existing anti-gouging legislation for commonalities in their definitions of gouging and then present arguments in favor of the permissibility of gouging, focusing on the economic benefits of price increases following disasters. I argue that gouging takes the form of a specific failure of respect for persons by undercutting equitable access to essential goods. While I discuss anti-gouging legislation throughout this paper, my aim is to give anaccount of the moral wrongs associated with gouging rather than guidance for developing morally defensible anti-gouging legislation.
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Keywords | Applied Philosophy Business and Professional Ethics Social Science |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 1052-150X |
DOI | beq200919214 |
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