Oddbean

In an disaster situation, do you think a gas station with limited supply of highly demanded fuel should: 1) Raise prices 2) Put a per customer quantity cap on fuel purchases at normal rates 3) Operate as normal until out of fuel 4) something else I have a fairly strong opinion on this but am curious to hear what others think. #AskNostr #Ethics #Economics

Don't go through this path to discuss what someone should do with their property/assets. The gas station owner should do whatever he wants, donate the gas, raise prices or shutdown to keep all the gas to him. Is his right and none of us has nothing to do with it.

Not in my plans to own a gas station, so there is no point to have a personal opinion on this matter. I really believe that this decision should be taken by the owner and I don't have the right to judge him. As citizen, that should be impacted with a disaster, I always keep my car with a fair amount of fuel to reach a friend/family house's.

Raise prices. How would you even keep track of a per customer cap? And higher prices help ensure resources go to where they're needed most, rather than letting everyone hoard up to their cap (some people need little to no fuel).

A combination of 1 and 2. In a disaster situation you'd better have damn good employees if you think you can expect them to show up, so I'd raise prices modestly to ensure their loyalty is rewarded. A per customer cap with a requirement to pay in your preferred currency would be my next move--whether that's Bitcoin, bullets, food or cash. Prioritize what YOU need and make the market meet that for you. Operating as normal just provides the opportunity to someone else to scalp your precious resource.

They should be free to choose any of those options without government interference. Their customers are free to reward/punish them with their future purposes. I’d lean towards #2 and up the gallons for kind people who asked and who I thought were doing what they could to help their neighbors as well.

Depends. If the community has treated me well and I can afford it, I'll be at the station personally authorizing each pump, it's price and the amount to be pumped. My employees will get 'hazard/disaster' pay as well. Some may get unlimited gas for free. Some may get no gas at any price. Some get rations to get out of the area at a high price. Disasters and local communities are personal. I'll give a highly personal response.