The market did not respond to the need for evacuation by sending in huge convoys of buses to get people out; in some places, it did respond by tripling hotel prices in neighboring areas, which, while reflecting the marked change in supply and demand, is reviled as price gouging. Such behavior is so odious because it brings little allocative benefit – no significant increase in supply in the short run – and carries a huge distributive cost, as those with resources take advantage of those without.
尽管有着各种各样的优势，但市场调解常常在危机中失去作用。实际上，市场机制在危急关头根本无法适用。市场没有派出大批车队帮助灾民撤离，在有些地方，市场确实做出了反应，使临近地区旅馆的价格提高了三倍，虽然这种做法的确反应了供给和需求的明显变化，但却被视为价格欺诈而遭人所不齿。这种行为令人憎恶，因为它对资源分配本身没有任何好处，供给不会在短时间内得到大幅度提高，它还伴随着巨大的分配成本，因为掌握资源的人利用手中的资源对缺乏资源者进行掠夺。