美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why price gouging can seem obvious to consumers but hard for economists to identify

Why price gouging¹ can seem obvious to consumers but hard for economists³ to identify

Transcript⁴

Consumers and politicians across the country are complaining about price gouging. But when do prices cross the line from market-rate to exorbitant⁵ — or even unethical?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As prices go up, so do complaints about price gouging. Inflation has been easing but is still a problem, and price gouging is not so easy to define. Here's Paddy Hirsch and Wailin Wong from NPR's daily economics podcast, The Indicator⁶.

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE⁷: Price gouging is not an economic term. In fact, a large proportion, maybe even most economists, say that price gouging isn't a thing at all. Amy Smith is an economist² at Advanced Economics Solutions, a consultancy.

AMY SMITH: Price gouging - from an economist standpoint, the opinion is it couldn't exist because it's really all about supply and demand. I mean, you just go back to your Economics 101, right? If there's less of a good, then you got to increase the price in order to rationalize demand.

PADDY HIRSCH, BYLINE: In other words, the argument goes, it's not price gouging, it's the market. If demand is super high and supply is super low, then prices are going to rise, just as night follows day.

SMITH: So say a hurricane hits the Gulf⁸ Coast, there might be an issue with sending in products like toilet paper or plywood or something to that effect, and that would drive prices because the demand on something like that is high while supply continues to dwindle⁹.

WONG: Now, I know what you're thinking. If there's a natural disaster and people really need toilet paper or plywood and a retailer¹⁰ charges a lot more for those things, that's kind of unethical or maybe even immoral¹¹.

HIRSCH: Yes. This is where Economics 102 comes in, and we learn about the power of a monopoly, which occurs when a company lacks any viable¹² competition and can keep prices high.

WONG: But a hard-line economist might argue that it's not good for the economy - not good for anyone, in fact - to forbid retailers¹³ from increasing prices. Goods often cost more in a store because the retailer's supplier is charging more, and all the store owner is doing is passing along those costs. Natural disasters can be an existential threat to businesses as well as to the people who need what they sell.

HIRSCH: The problem, Amy says, is that price gouging is hard to define. And at what point did that retailer's price go from merely high to an outright¹⁴ gouge¹⁵? Price gouging's a highly subjective¹⁶ concept.

WONG: Every state has different laws on price gouging, if they have laws at all, which means that in some parts of the U.S., price gouging doesn't exist, and where it does exist, it has a variety of definitions. In some states, retailers are allowed to pass on wholesalers' costs, and in others, they're not. It's a random¹⁷ patchwork¹⁸ of guidance that uses words like exorbitant, excessive and unconscionable with regard to pricing without defining what those terms actually mean.

HIRSCH: Yeah. The fact is that price-gouging laws and, therefore, the definition of price gouging are driven by politics, not economics.

WONG: And this is why right now you have a Rhode Island senator demanding an inquiry¹⁹ into egg prices and a California governor urging price-gouging penalties on oil companies. Lawmakers in those states have been deluged²⁰ with complaints about corporations charging exorbitant, excessive prices for eggs and gasoline over the last year.

HIRSCH: The egg-gouging question has just gone to the Federal Trade Commission. The California gasoline-gouging initiative just made it to the state Senate. Politicians will now try to untangle that old knot between economics and ethics²¹, the same one that the philosopher Plato wrestled²² with in his "Republic" more than 2,000 years ago. So this latest attempt to define price gouging - oh, it might take a wee while.

WONG: Wailin Wong.

HIRSCH: Paddy Hirsch, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF OFFTHEWALLY'S "MARMALADE")

1 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

6 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

10 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

11 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

12 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

13 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

14 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

15 gouge   

v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈

参考例句：

• To make a Halloween lantern,you first have to gouge out the inside of the pumpkin.要做一个万圣节灯笼，你先得挖空这个南瓜。
• In the Middle Ages,a favourite punishment was to gouge out a prisoner's eyes.在中世纪，惩罚犯人最常用的办法是剜眼睛。

16 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

17 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

18 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

19 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

20 deluged   

v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付

参考例句：

• The minister was deluged with questions. 部长穷于应付像洪水般涌来的问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They deluged me with questions. 他们向我连珠发问。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

22 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》