Mark D. White

At Knowledge Problem, Michael Giberson has a terrific and concise discussion of accusations of price gouging in the market for potassium iodide, which can protect the thyroid gland from radiation poisoning (obviously a major concern in Japan right now). He discusses the basic economic and ethical analysis of price gouging and policies that can be taken to counter it, drawn from his recent article in Regulation, "The Problem with Price Gouging Laws." There, he pays particular attention to the arguments made against price gouging based on virtue ethics, taking issue with Michael Sandel's discussion in his book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?.

Both the blog post and the Regulation article are well worth the read.