For example, suppose that after the Texas hurricane, an entrepreneur has his agents immediately purchase enormous quantities of ice from ice houses in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, and ships the ice by helicopter into Galveston. If electricity has been restored by the time the ice arrives, the entrepreneur loses all his money. The capitalist takes the risk with his own money. Profits are simply part of the intricate system of communication in the unhampered market economy. You produced the goods and services that other people wanted and were willing to pay for under the conditions existing at that time.
Losses are the opposite.
The fact is that any government regulation that interferes with mutually beneficial trades at any time is interfering with people's ability to improve their well-being. People enter into trades to improve their standard of living. When politicians and bureaucrats interfere with these peaceful transactions, they frustrate the ability of people to seek their own happiness in their own way. Most important, government officials should never be permitted the power to interfere with prices and money. Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation.