Comment by pdonis

> The demand curve is different for every customer.

No, the price the customer is willing to pay for a given product is different for every customer. But the demand curve is just the aggregate of all that--how many customers are willing to pay a given price for the product, as a function of the price. There are different demand curves for different products, but the notion that there is a different demand curve for every customer for a single product makes no sense.

> BTW, do you also feel it is unfair if a store charges a person less if the store realizes the person is a bit needy?

I've said nothing whatever about whether or not I agree with the Maryland law under discussion here. I'm just trying to be clear about what the law does and doesn't do.

> I could not just raise prices and "extract" more profit

You can't raise prices for all customers and expect more profit, of course.

But if you can raise prices only for those customers who are willing to pay higher prices, i.e., if you can price discriminate, then yes, you can extract more profit by doing that--as I've said multiple times now, you're transferring what would otherwise be consumer surplus to yourself. And if the cost to you of getting the extra information you need to price discriminate is less than the consumer surplus you're able to extract by doing so, then it's profitable for you to do it if you can.

Doing what I've just described is what the law under discussion here outlaws.