When economic problems arise, most people are satisfied to find a scapegoat to punish, instead of going to the root cause of such disruptions – usually the state. Thus, during the 1930s depression, some people were inclined to find a black man to lynch in order to relieve their frustrations. Today, politicians and their buffoonish followers are more inclined to use businessmen – who must adjust their practices to economic dislocations – as their scapegoats. This kind of politically-correct lynching is what underlies governmental efforts to punish businesses for such “offenses” as “price-gouging.”