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Instead of price controls to prevent gouging, why doesn't the government build up reserves and stockpiles? (lemmy.crimedad.work)

submitted 2 months ago by CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work to c/economics@lemmy.ml

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cross-posted from: https://jorts.horse/users/fathermcgruder/statuses/113008342518705813

Instead of price controls to prevent gouging, why doesn't the government build up reserves and stockpiles?

#economics #HarrisWalz #PriceControls #gouging

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[–] davel@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The Soviets tried that and it is the root cause of some of the most serious famines ever seen.

There was one famine, and it happened near the beginning of the Soviet Union’s history, after a civil war. And this was a country where for centuries under tsarist rule famines had been a common occurrence. What the Soviet Union did was end famines.

Government, by its nature, is an inefficiency engine.

This sounds like neoliberal Road to Serfdom nonsense. Inefficient compared to what, the invisible hand?

This increases that and will cause more inequality not less.

Inequality in Russia has risen since the fall of the Soviet Union. Are you unaware of the shock therapy that befell many of the Warsaw pact states? As shock therapist Jeffrey Sachs will tell you, the reason Poland was the sole “success story” is that the US chose to allow it to be a success.