“High [ticket] prices are a natural reflection of great demand and scant supply. In a free market, in which private individuals can engage in mutually advantageous gains from trade, they are inevitable until demand subsides or supply expands….I don’t object to ticket resales above face value, and I think it is pernicious when others do…In the past, Mr. [Miranda has objected to the automated software that quickly buys as many tickets as it can, so they can be resold at a profit. But there is an easy way to put these resellers out of business: The theater can charge higher prices to begin with.”
N. Gregory Mankiw, a professor of economics at Harvard, explains why “terms like ‘scalping’ and ‘price gouging’ are pejoratives used to demonize those who resell tickets at whatever high prices the market will bear” in his New York Times column, “I Paid $2,500 for a ‘Hamilton’ Ticket. I’m Happy About It.”
