"Market Failure" and "Rent" in Harvey’s Wake
During Hurricane Katrina, an entrepreneurial man named John Shepperson saw an opportunity. In Kentucky, where he lived, generators cost $1000. If he loaded a truck with 19 of them and then drove them 600 miles to Mississippi, he could fetch double that price. Upon arrival, Mr. Shepperson was arrested and the generators confiscated. Rather than earning a $19,000 profit, less expenses for his 1200-mile round trip, Shepperson spent four nights in jail for violating the state’s a
