> Why does a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich cost $15
Because people keep paying for them.
The fault of price gouging lies firmly with consumers. If consumers are willing to tolerate ridiculous prices, then guess what, vendors are going to keep charging ever-higher ridiculous prices. Why in the world would they not?
If no one, or at least much fewer, people were willing to shell out $15 for a sandwich, then that sandwich would not cost $15.
If you're going to be hungry, bring food with you to the airport. If you don't want to deal with being hassled while going through security about it, then eat it before you go through security. It's very simple.
Sure there are always going to be exceptions--flight delays, you're running late, your kids' blood sugar is dipping, etc, but if you adhere to this very basic principle more often than not, sandwich prices will go down.
I agree with all of your points, but in cases of monopoly or oligopoly you can't place all of the blame on the consumer. It seems like a simple way for this problem to fix itself is for the Port Authority to allow more competition among concessionaires in the terminals; the article doesn't make it clear how much competition there really is.
As noted elsewhere in this thread, the Port Authority is one of the most corrupt government organizations you could find, so it would be unsurprising if it ended up being that there were two or three parent companies behind all the concessionaires.
Because people keep paying for them.
The fault of price gouging lies firmly with consumers. If consumers are willing to tolerate ridiculous prices, then guess what, vendors are going to keep charging ever-higher ridiculous prices. Why in the world would they not?
If no one, or at least much fewer, people were willing to shell out $15 for a sandwich, then that sandwich would not cost $15.
If you're going to be hungry, bring food with you to the airport. If you don't want to deal with being hassled while going through security about it, then eat it before you go through security. It's very simple.
Sure there are always going to be exceptions--flight delays, you're running late, your kids' blood sugar is dipping, etc, but if you adhere to this very basic principle more often than not, sandwich prices will go down.