It’s amazing what folks will let pass for a “free market” these tumultuous days. In the US, there are a whole passel of maleducati who erroneously believe that the practice of enforcing no rules or regulations at all is the cornerstone of a free market.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
The lack of rules and regulations are the main constituents of a thieves market, pure and simple.
Budget airlines have been participating and expanding this market at will, advertising fares well below what a person is actually charged. The government has been finally called to end this anti-free market madness by ordering “13 airlines – including Ryanair, Aer Lingus and EasyJet – to change their advertisement and website prices to include fixed, non-optional costs, such as taxes.” ~ “UK cracks down on dodgy airfare adverts”
Earlier this year, large US airlines tried an even more egregious scheme, calling for the DOT to allow them to abandon the concept of truth in advertising so they could add “unspecified fees” after the consumer had decided to buy. This would have totally trashed the ultra-high-efficiency the Internet has had in creating a truly free market in which the bid and offer prices could be established quickly and efficiently. The comments, from flying folks and representatives of smaller airlines, prevented this egregious scheme from seeing the light of day. Good for us.
Stick up for the free market. Let them throw out an asking price that actually reflects the real price of a ticket so the consumer can compare offers. Sure, there is more profit in the mysterious prices within a thieves market, that’s why thieves participate in them, but consumers shouldn’t support such madness, should they?
Oh, and here’s a list of budget airlines flying within Italy for you.