If Congress was serious about price gouging, then it would give the F.T.C. the power to break up large corporations… But of course, the Republocrats are beholden to large corporations…

No federal statute prohibits price gouging now, said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “It’s true that we all think we know price gouging when we see it, but that’s not the sort of definition that a prosecutor can take to a judge or jury,” he said. “We’re here to put the gougers out of business, if there are gougers, or behind bars.”

Traditionally, the FTC has played a key role in investigating price fixing or manipulation, offenses that usually involve collusion between two or more players in a market who conspire to reduce competition so they can increase prices. There are many people who allege that major oil companies have engaged in such a plot by limiting output by oil refineries. Schmidt said the FTC was conducting “a very serious substantial investigation that is examining whether there has been unlawful gasoline price manipulation.”

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