The Virginia legislature passed an anti-price gouging bill that will prevent people from profiting from natural disasters like last year's Hurricane Isabel. The great Walter E. Williams gives us an economics lesson on why this won't work, and what Virginians should expect the next time around.

In Isabel's wake, private contractors from nearby states brought their heavy equipment to Virginia to clear fallen trees from people's houses. Producers and shippers of generators, plywood and other vital supplies worked overtime to increase the flow of these goods to Virginians. What was it that got these people and millions of others to help their fellow man in time of need? Was it admonitions from George Bush? Was it conscience or love for one's fellow man?

I'll tell you what it was. It was rising prices and the opportunity for people to cash in on windfall profits.

There's that evil word: profit. But anyone with an IQ over 85 should realize that business owners in other states aren't going to bend over backwards to help us if they aren't allowed to profit from it. Profit is what makes the capitalist world go 'round, and eliminating that incentive will prolong the cleanup of the next hurricane.