As hurricane Katrina continues its destructive course, the purveyors of economic nonsense are providing empirical evidence as to why state planning has been equally disastrous. Political authorities have been quick to warn retailers of the punishment awaiting those who try to "profiteer" from shortages by raising prices. Stabilizing prices in the face of increased demand is certain to produce an increase in the supply of scarce goods and services, right? Furthermore, the economic wizards over at CNBC are raising the question often heard following such events as these: is disaster good for the economy? Do I need to explain the absurdity of such thinking? Those who so reason would likely have regarded the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an economic boon to those cities, since everything that had been destroyed had to be rebuilt!
