Editing Price gouging (section)

====Florida====

[[Florida|Florida's]] "state of emergency" law criminalizes price gouging.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/5D2710E379EAD6BC85256F03006AA2C5?OpenDocument |title=Florida Attorney General - Price Gouging Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=Florida office of the [[attorney general]]|access-date=2016-09-25}}</ref> A supplier of essential goods and services may be charged when it sharply raises prices in anticipation of or during a civil emergency or when it cancels or dishonors contracts in order to take advantage of an increase in prices related to such an emergency. The model case is a retailer who increases the price of existing stocks of milk and bread when a hurricane is imminent. Though the effect of such laws have been proven to actually increase the risk of extreme shortages since the absence of increased prices replaces higher prices with an incentive for the earliest person to market to obtain all of a product about to imminently experience a period of very high demand.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bourne |first1=Ryan |last2=Subramaniam |first2=Brad |title=Longstanding Anti-Price Gouging Statutes Worsen Shortages |url=https://www.cato.org/blog/longstanding-anti-price-gouging-statutes-worsen-shortages |access-date=16 May 2022 |website= |publisher=[[Cato Institute]]}}</ref>

In Florida, it is a defense to show that the price increase mostly reflects increased costs, such as running an emergency generator or [[hazard pay]] for workers, while [[California]] places a ten percent cap on any increases.<ref>{{cite web |last=Giberson |first=Michael |date=2011 |title=The Problem with Price Gouging Laws |url=http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/2011/4/regv34n1-1.pdf |access-date=2016-09-25 |website=[[Cato Institute]]}}</ref>