We have identified a new area for Congressional legislation on price gouging: entertainment. It seems that a consumer group in Rome has protested the high price of tickets that Barbra Streisand was going to charge for a concert in the Stadio Flaminio, which would have been her first concert in Italy and the start of her European tour.
According to the AP story,
Last week, consumer groups Codacons and Adusbef protested as “absurd and shameful” ticket prices ranging from $200 to more than $1,200, calling on authorities to deny Streisand use of the 24,000-seat stadium. The stadium is “public property and cannot be used for immoral deals that are shameful to a civilized country,” the groups said in a statement.
Apparently believing in the power of the market, Streisand has shifted her opening concert to Zurich. Her tour promoter said that the change resulted from “unexpected production delays.” Well, in fact, such things do happen. But Ms. Streisand and her fellow travelers are impatient when similar delays occur in the rest of the business world — especially energy — and demand government intervention. Will price control-loving members of Congress demand similar price gouging laws on entertainers’ ticketing prices?
Don’t hold your breath. This episode brings to mind the film in which Ms. Streisand performed about ten years ago, The Mirror Has Two Faces. Click here for the full story.
May 30th, 2007 on 3:16 pm
Oh, I know. Just joshing about the spelling “gaul.” Gallia est omnis divisa in partres tres and all that.
May 30th, 2007 on 3:12 pm
The Consumer Groups that were raising a stink about Streisand’s ticket prices were Italian – not French.
May 30th, 2007 on 1:15 pm
“…it is gauling for these ‘consumer groups’ to attempt to micromanage her career for her.”
That would be the French, not the Italians.
May 30th, 2007 on 1:00 pm
Whether Barbra Streisand cancelled her conert in Rome due to the aforementioned “production issues” or for any other reason is purely speculative.
Streisand is a VERY generous woman and funnels tons of money to many different causes. Some of the proceeds of this tour are being designated for charity at home and in Europe.
What Streisand did not do is allow her career to be managed by some foreign interest group (who were no doubt looking to make a name for themselves). She has every right to determine where her charity goes to and it is gauling for these “consumer groups” to attempt to micro-manage her career for her. Asking her to try and accomodate their concerns would have been the mature and respectable thing to do – not to make demands.
However, the comparison between this issue and Ms. Streisand’s concern about energy use is inappropriate – but coming from a site with a vested interest in that industry – it isn’t surprising.
Adding the comparison between these issues and a fictional film of her’s is just bizarre and completely irrelevant.