Price Controls Gaining Popularity As Solution to Inflation

It is what some might call the worst solution possible to try and deal with current inflation and cost of living issues around the U.S., but there are some who have suggested that perhaps price controls would be the right solution to bring about an ease to the pain.

However, asking for more centralized manipulation of the market isn't going to be the savior that some think it is.

Interventionism in the market is arguably why we are facing this situation in the first place.

That manipulation isn't for the benefit of the people, that much has been made clear by the ever increasing cost of living for billions of people. And further intervention via price controls is an idea that might easily work to make things even worse than they are now.

It is still up for debate as to whether or not money printing causes inflation with finance experts today. We will probably still be arguing about that even as hyperinflation runs up in other areas, like we have seen take place in Venezuela and more regions.

We cannot expect that those who created the problem will be eager to take responsibility for it or change their ways. It is easy to assume they will only look to make things worse and keep those in the dark who are getting screwed by the arrangement.

This is why cryptocurrency came about, to address that continual deterioration that we have seen with fiat currencies again and again. It is why a growing number of individuals are considering cryptocurrency today.

Over the years the notion has been increasingly repeated, that perhaps bitcoin is the answer to inflation. Though, there are many out there who still disagree with that notion, saying it's a pyramid scheme or nothing more than overvalued tulips, and many disagree that bitcoin might ever become a full worldwide currency, or one even adopted by a majority of countries today. Still, look how far the crypto market has already come and you could say it is still very early for this new technology and market.

There are different examples to signal the failure that price controls have reaped in the past and we have seen in the market that they can lead to shortages for daily goods like food or toilet paper. The intervention in the market via price controls undermines the ability of the market to do what it does naturally. This is not what you would expect to see in a free market, not that the U.S. operates today with a free market form of capitalism because it doesn't. There is heavy control and cronyism peppered throughout the market today and we certainly don't need any more of it.

Sources:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-magazine-combat-inflation-impose-price-controls
https://reason.com/2022/01/03/price-controls-are-the-worst-possible-solution-to-inflation/
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/money-printing-is-a-flawed-experiment-thats-done-america-more-harm-than-good-11626722450