Price Control

In AD 301, a Roman Emperor made a decree He fixed the price of food and clothes If you sold for higher, there was a death penalty If you hoarded those goods, your blood would flow. Since no one can manufacture below cost Sellers disobeyed the decree Mobs attacked them, lives were lost Not very smart of the citizenry. The emperor had to abdicate hoping no blame should go to him Damage was done, it was too late The prospects for revival were getting dim. There were other reasons for Rome's fall too But if laws replace reality by desire Rulers relearn that what's old is new Mistakes that can bring down an empire. Canada put price controls on drugs, it sounded so humane Health care is a right, who cares if big Pharma feels the pain? So the drugs they buy are invented in the USA The hidden cost are ideas that don't see the light of day. U.S. companies ran buses and trolleys for gain But politicians limited prices, a magnanimous pose So there was no money to repair and maintain. The city took over, companies were forced to close And taxpayers now paid through the nose. Costs don’t go away because you refuse to pay And lunch is never really free You destroy industries that way How far do our politicians see? In 2003, Chávez declared prices fixed This Venezuelan leader was socialist to the core From milk to toilet paper, the economy deep-sixed. Products made too cheap - are then made no more. Since nobody could recoup the costs to produce Why bother to farm? What was the use? In 1971, Nixon froze prices and wages. The public were for that, said American polls He should have read history's pages To succeed you must set achievable goals. Farmers drowned their chickens and ranchers would not ship cattle The American public only realized the mistake When finding food in the markets became a losing battle People learned for a while, temporarily awake. But the lesson doesn't last - that nothing is free Now price controls on insurance - California's decree Whole neighborhoods went up in flame, insurance couldn't pay When wildfires burned LA, costs borne by you and me. Rent control is another noble lie, First tenants love it though their landlords cry. But supply runs out, repairs are late, Why must bad ideas always replicate? History warns, but who still reads? We chase the dream—but the dream recedes.