Wow

In the wake of the disaster in SE Asia, a gentle reminder (in my words) to deal with the problem, not the symptoms. Price controls just mask the problems temporarily.
This sort of thing makes me glad to live in the US. We're just as susceptible to being hit by natural disasters as anyone else is, but our wealth enables us to deal with these situations much more easily. They probably cost us a lot more money (because we have more of it to destroy), but many fewer people lose their lives. I'll gladly take that deal.