Price Gouging in a Hurricane: Do Free Market Forces Circumvent Price Controls?

Abstract

This study analyzes gasoline prices in Florida and Georgia before and after Hurricane Irma, a major weather event that affected both states in 2017. The analysis reveals that gasoline prices in both states increased and stabilized well in advance of state of emergency declarations that triggered the states’ price gouging laws. Price gouging laws thus appear to be inconsequential. Free market forces determine prices unhindered by government price controls during hurricane emergencies.