Let me know if you’ve heard this before: Government meddles in free market because it can. Prices rise. Government investigates price gouging:
St. Louis County officials plan to ask the state attorney general to investigate whether some trash haulers have gouged residents by drastically raising rates in recent weeks.
The county’s chief operating officer, Garry Earls, said some residents in the county’s unincorporated areas have received bills that are almost double their previous rates.
“This price gouging is tantamount to unscrupulous contractors ripping people off after a major storm,” he said.
The county is moving ahead with plans to divide its unincorporated areas into eight trash collection districts. Through competitive bidding, it would hire a single hauler for each district, except in subdivisions that opt out of the program.
The government’s action leads to a rise in prices that justifies, in the government’s mind, more government action.
