I Already Had a Working Title for My Saturday Column ...

... but Ryan Bourne & Sophia Bagley at the Cato Institute got to that title first. And did a great job with the topic, too.

By Saturday, I may have moved on from the topic anyway, since the whole thing is quickly sinking in the news cycle.

So, while I'm here anyway, let me just ruminate (my ruminations, as usual, may end up in a column if I'm still seeing Internet chatter about this by Saturday):

I love the idea of "surge pricing" everywhere, especially restaurants.

Yes, really. 

One reason is that when I get food "out," it's usually during off-peak hours, when places aren't very busy. I hate, hate, hate sitting in a drive-thru line or waiting at a counter forever. If I see that a place has a big line, I go somewhere else.

The flip side of "surge" pricing is "dynamic pricing" in the other direction.

Hypothetically, let's say that the base price of  a burger is $5 (these days, you don't get much of a burger for that, but like I said, this is a hypothetical).

During "surges" -- times when a major employer has a shift change and a bunch of people are wanting an easy dinner on the way home, or a concert or sporting event nearby just ended and all the drunks and stoners have the munchies -- it goes up to six bucks. Those who aren't willing to cough up an extra buck disappear and the drive-thru line doesn't stop moving. Everyone saves time, and the joint doesn't lose money.

During "dead times" -- when business is slow but not slow enough to justify being closed -- the price drops to four bucks, attracting enough people like me to keep the money coming in, and to actually sell the stuff that's made in quantity and sits under a heat lamp for x minutes before it's thrown in the trash for a complete loss, etc. I'd say the "dynamic" aspect on that might actually be "whatever meal prices keep the fryer going at a steady pace instead of having a bunch of wilted fries going in the garbage." Some customers save money, and the joint still makes money (maybe not as much, or maybe as much -- the fries in the garbage are a cost that gets cut, and they'd be paying staff to be there and utility bills to keep the oil and the grill hot anyway).

Don't like the "surge" price of something? No biggie. Instead of waiting, and making everyone else wait, go somewhere else where people are willing to wait rather than pay the higher price, or drop by the nearest grocery store and grab a salad kit or microwave lasagna for less than the "normal" price of the burger.