by Paul Jacob

Some things are just bad, we're told. Like rising prices.

Oh, not always. People tend not to complain when their salary goes up.

But suppose the price of a widely used good shoots up because of a drastic change in circumstances -- especially the price of a good many people really, really need. Then surely something dastardly must be going on, right? Some kind of "gouging"?

You think I'm going to talk about gas prices now. Good guess, but no: my subject is cab fares. Specifically, the fare from Beirut, Lebanon to Damascus, Syria, as bombs explode all around.

We know prices have something to do with supply and demand. Also that the demand for that cab ride is suddenly a lot higher given all the people who want to leave the war zone. Also that driving a cab under such circumstances is a lot riskier now. So, after Hezbollah and Israel escalated their conflict to all-out war, cab fares for the trip skyrocketed.

Price gouging? You and I may not think that way. But according to the New York Times, a couple weeks into the conflict, "price gouging has been rampant throughout the crisis. The price of a long-haul taxi from Beirut to Damascus, normally about $50 for the two or three-hour trip, has risen tenfold, even twenty. . . ."

Your life might be saved; but, on the other hand, your wallet is thinner now. War sure is hell.

Paul Jacob's "Common Sense" is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.