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Theorizing Entrepreneurial Price Gouging: Interdependency, Injustice

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Theorizing Entrepreneurial Price Gouging: Interdependency, Injustice A RETHINKING Pandemic and MARXISM the Crisis of Dossier Capitalism Critique of Political Economy—Pandemic Edition 1 In an open letter plies and toilet paper on eBay, Amazon, and $1.4 billion, leaving $1.5 explaining the pricing billion in pretax revenue Gilead chose for the Craigslist (Tiffany 2020), to drug companies that (Nathan-Kazis 2020). COVID-19 drug rem- jack up prices for medications like insulin—and desivir—$3,120 for a remdesivir (Thomas 2019).1 five-day course of treat- ment—Daniel O’Day At best, entrepreneurship is just another word In the United States, the federal government (2020), the chairman and for capitalistic behavior. CEO of Gilead Sciences, failed to take responsibility for regulating the wrote that the company —“What Does Determine the Profit Rate? The Neoclassical prices of necessities during the pandemic ini- chose to “price remde- Theories Presented in Introductory Textbooks,” tially, leaving a void to be filled by private enti- sivir well below” the Michele Naples and Nahid Aslanbeigui savings that will result ties, some of which enacted more seemingly from shorter hospital ethical policies than gov- stays. An investment 2 ernment itself. From a 2 Trump signed Execu- bank analyst calls the It can be tempting to view tive Order 13,910 on 23 price a “spectacularly social-reproduction per- March 2020, prohibit- good value” (Lupkin hoarders, price gougers, Theorizing spective, one would expect ing hoarding and price 2020). Critics of Gilead and people who refuse to capitalist employers to gouging related to health range from Public Citi- wear masks during pub- Entrepreneurial Price and medical resources, zen, which described the respond if illness threat- including N95 masks, pricing as an “offensive lic health crises like the Gouging: ens their ability to extract respirators, ventilators, display of hubris and COVID-19 pandemic as surplus value through the hydroxycholoroquine disregard for the pub- selfish jerks with antiso- Interdependency, (HCL), medical gowns, lic,” to U.S. Represen- less and less sustainable and other personal pro- tative Lloyd Doggett, a cial or even sociopathic Injustice, and Hand exploitation of increasingly tective equipment. The Democrat from Texas, tendencies. But focus- ill workers. During the pan- order does not apply who said that it was “an Sanitizer ing on individual “rule to consumer products outrageous price for a demic, people, especially like hand sanitizer. See very modest drug, which breakers” pulls them out women, may be forced to Exec. Order No. 13,910., taxpayer funding saved of social context and con- act as “shock absorbers” to 85 Fed. Reg. 17001 (26 from a scrap heap of fail- ceals economic structures: March 2020), https:// ures” (Thorbecke 2020; mitigate this problem by www.federalregister.gov/ Erman, Burger, and capitalism stipulates profit Jennifer Cohen providing home-based care documents/2020/03/26/ Maddipatla 2020). Both seeking—and it does so for the sick and taking on 2020-06478/preventing- refer to the what Public with significant costs to hoarding-of-health-and- Citizen estimates is over additional household labor. medical-resources-to-re- $70 million of taxpayer public health. Price goug- However, such mitigation extends the already spond-to-the-spread-of- money that Gilead ing hoarders are not “breaking rules.” Their fraught work of reproducing life in nonpan- covid-19. received through federal entrepreneurial behavior is consistent with cap- demic conditions, potentially to the detriment of grants for development italist logic. and clinical trials of health generally and women’s health in particu- remdesivir (Thorbecke lar (Cohen and Venter 2020; Cohen 2019). In this 2020). According to Antisocial “entrepreneurialism” occurs at mul- one analyst, total 2020 tiple levels: from a student who charges class- relatively early stage in the pandemic, even at the sales of remdesivir are mates 50p (about US$0.65) for single squirts local scale and even where the COVID-19 virus likely to be about $2.9 has caused many deaths among wage workers, billion, while study and of hand sanitizer (Harvey 2020), to people who manufacturing costs are stockpile and unashamedly resell cleaning sup- the threat to profitability is a crisis of consumer projected to be about demand, not (yet) one of incapacitated labor. 205 A RETHINKING Pandemic and MARXISM the Crisis of Dossier Capitalism Critique of Political Economy—Pandemic Edition Nonetheless, Amazon and eBay quickly banned that embraces entrepreneurialism and econo- secondhand sales of hand sanitizer and clean- mistic thought dominates in the abstract. As of 1 ing wipes, noting that these sales violated “fair July 2020, the Facebook post by the above-men- pricing” policies (Terlep 2020; Tiffany 2020). tioned student’s mother had attracted 228,350 eBay pointed to its “Disaster and Tragedy Pol- reaction icons: 154,009 were “Haha,” 65,508 icy,” which prohibits attempting “to profit from were “Like,” 8,005 were “Love,” and 615 were 3 “Disaster and Tragedy human tragedy or suffering.”3 Meanwhile, there “Wow”; 131 were “Angry,” 81 were “Sad,” and one Policy,” eBay, accessed 4 4 The Facebook post, 24 April 2020, https:// is little political will to limit price gouging on was “Care.” In the same moment that people published 11 March www.ebay.com/help/pol- $700 EpiPens at the governmental level. are dying from COVID-19, stores have short- 2020, was shared 198,650 icies/prohibited-restrict- ages of hand sanitizer because of hoarding and times and accrued ed-items/disaster-trage- At the microentrepreneur- 110,424 comments by 1 dy-policy?id=5051. price gouging. The cog- ial level, the profit seek- July 2020. The com- How is it that this entrepreneurial, nitive dissonance is clear ments were overwhelm- ing activity incumbent to profit seeking perspective is at once as profit seeking wins ingly congratulatory. Of one hundred randomly capitalism, celebrated in “unique” and simultaneously the plaudits even as it causes more usual times, is decried selected for review, fifty motor of capitalism? Why is the same deaths. from men and fifty from during crises. Yet ambiguity entrepreneurialism that is appar- women, ninety were pos- itive, seven were ambig- around whether to applaud ently laudable under usual conditions Where this activity is rec- or punish profit seeking ognized as troubling, as uous, and three were shameful under unusual conditions? negative. See J. Tomp- behavior is demonstrated The obvious response is that this in the case of two broth- kins, “This is a picture of my teenage son just by the case of the student “profiteering” is different from “prof- ers in Tennessee, it is selling single squirts of often framed in terms of getting in from school,” iting.” But how? It cannot simply be Facebook, 11 March hand sanitizer, whose “dad because price gougers exploit (draw the behavior of a few “bad 2020, post linked from https://www.huffpost. was calling him up [from profits from) innocent people who are apples,” which shames work] to let him know he’s sellers while conceal- com/entry/hand-san- suffering; innocent people also suffer itizer-school-suspen- a f#%*ing legend” (Harvey exploitation in the generation of prof- ing the economic struc- sion_n_5e6b071ec5b6d- da30fc642ef. 2020). A commenter on the its through production. ture that compels exactly HuffPost news story wrote, this behavior (Vigdor “Give him ten years he’ll be a great businessman 2020). In comparison to the boy selling squirts who understands supply and demand.” Com- of hand sanitizer, these entrepreneurial adults menters were overwhelmingly of the opinion were given a chillier reception. With help from that he should be commended for his “entrepre- his brother, Matt Colvin spent thousands of dol- neurial genius.” lars on 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer to resell. Colvin was profiled in a New York Times article Despite unprecedented political action in the about his reselling that garnered almost 4,400 social interest during the pandemic, in which comments. After the article was published, he people fundamentally altered their lives to pro- reported getting hate mail and death threats tect their health and the health of those around (Nicas 2020a, 2020b; Vigdor 2020). them, contradictory-but-internalized ideology 206 A RETHINKING Pandemic and MARXISM the Crisis of Dossier Capitalism Critique of Political Economy—Pandemic Edition In another article about the price gouging broth- ing activity. At the same time, however, if entre- ers, Simkins wrote (2020), “It takes a unique per- preneurialism is just profit seeking, it is ubiqui- spective to witness the suffering of innocent tous and foundational in an economic system people and think, ‘How can I turn this into a driven by profit. As noted by Naples and Aslan- profitable enterprise?’” But does it? We are left beigui (1996, 57), “Entrepreneurship is then just a with unresolved questions. How is it that this euphemism for ‘being a capitalist.’” Echoing the entrepreneurial, profit seeking perspective is at sentiment, a commenter wrote of the boy selling once “unique” and simultaneously the motor squirts of sanitizer, “That’s awesome … he’s a lit- of capitalism? Why is the same entrepreneur- tle capitalist.” ialism that is apparently laudable under usual conditions shameful under unusual conditions? The second line of thought (and praxis) is soli- The obvious response is that this “profiteering” darity. Such thinking recognizes human interde- is different from “profiting.” But how? It cannot pendency and shared interests. The move from simply be because price gougers exploit (draw the imaginary of the self-made man to the actu- ally existing social world reveals the tangible profits from) innocent people who are suffer- 5 ing; innocent people also suffer exploitation in ways in which men are, in fact, made. Interde- 5 I continue using the the generation of profits through production. pendency is a condition for reproducing human terms “man” and “men” life.
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