In business, there's an important distinction between the buyer and the seller. What favours one, scares the other. Hence the term "good thing" depends on who you are asking.
For example, scarcity which favours the seller is a nightmare for the buyers and vice versa.
The aim of the buyer is to get the best goods possible at the lowest possible price, while the seller hopes to make as much profit as possible. These are conflicting goals and hence a middle point must be reached for both parties to be satisfied with the process.
Price cap which refers to a limit placed on the price at which a seller can sell his goods may be a welcome development for the buyers, but maybe not for the sellers.
This is because not every seller goes through the same process to acquire a product. Some go through longer channels, pay more and hence have a higher cost price than their competitors. For such traders, they will not make as much profit as their colleagues if they sell at same price.
Also, some businessmen are both producers and sellers while others purchase and resell. Those that produce and sell will definitely have it easier and can afford to sell at a lower price unlike the wholesale who buys strictly to resell.
Placing a price cap may not affect the producer who also sells but definitely, the wholesaler would find it difficult to compete in such an arrangement.
While for the buyers, the problem of having to haggle and possibly settle at exorbitant prices is solved as the goods would now have a price cap which will ensure that they get desired goods without having to worry of being cheated or manipulated.
I believe that prices of goods should be left open for the businessman to decide seeing that some personal factors come into play in deciding the price. However, some regulation can be put in place to reduce exploitation by the greedy ones.
Also, if goods and services are in abundance, the buyer has options which makes it possible for one to easily move from an exploitative buyer to a more reasonable one. This advantage is removed in events of scarcity and the buyer is placed at the mercy of the seller.
Naturally, in abundance, prices of goods are placed at a favourable price for the buyers while on the contrary, during scarcity, the prices of goods become exploitative and unfavorable to the buyer.
Which is why many systems are unwelcoming to monopoly because they place the buyer at the mercy of the businessman.
Yo, Bye for now, till I pick my pen phone again
Image(s) are mine
