document updated 15 years ago, on Jun 10, 2008
WTF? New York state has price ceilings on milk, and milk only. I sort of assumed the U.S. relied on capitalism...
- it's bizarre that this is being covered by numerous places, and the question is never "is there a compelling reason to deviate from capitalism?", the question always seems to be "yeah, why are they allowed to rip me off?". (answer: if competition is failing so badly, why not cap beef prices, or gas prices?)
- We do have price controls in other areas (utility boards, for instance). So it's definitely acceptable in some cases. But the first question always needs to be "why should it be acceptable in this case?".
- it's enforced by the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets
- the specific law is NY GEN BUS S 396-rr
- it applies only to retailers
- threshold price = 200% * minimum
- milk price minimums occur in numerous states as part of the farm bill subsidies
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- after the threshold is passed, a number of people have to agree before prosecution goes forward (this includes a comissioner, the state AG, and a court)
- the fine ranges from $1000-5000 a week
- however, the courts have to take into consideration the gross margin, which dulls its craziness somewhat.
- heck, collusion is even legal with milk prices
