Price controls don’t work – but mask rationing is the exception that proves the rule

Price controls don’t work – but mask rationing is the exception that proves the rule

Amihai Glazer, UCI professor of economics writes, “As an economist who wrote a textbook on price theory and teaches it to undergraduates, I’m generally skeptical about price controls. But not in this case. … Masks, hand sanitizers and vaccinations are different from most goods because they may benefit more than just the person using them. … Price controls on goods like masks, hand sanitizer or vaccines, once they become available, can be useful if doing so helps limit the spread of the coronavirus.”