(News Desk, 2022a; News Desk, 2022b). The gas price for power production will remain under the cap of around 50 euros per megawatt hour (News Desk, 2022a). Portuguese politicians in the government said that these measures would protect vulnerable households, socialize the cost and prices of energy, and most importantly, protect against the volatile energy prices in Europe (News Desk, 2022b; Fonseca, 2022; Lusa, 2022). Critics say these measures will distort the markets and result in higher gas consumption (News Desk, 2022b). Additionally, they believe it might disrupt competition in the European markets. However, as noted above, the Spanish and Portuguese power markets are more self-sufficient and tightly linked to one another, so the impact on the other EU countries should remain minimal (News Desk, 2022a). Criticism The primary criticism leveled against the price ceiling type of price controls is that by keeping prices artificially low, demand is increased to the point where supply cannot keep up, leading to shortages in the price-controlled product. For example, Lactantius wrote that Diocletian "by various taxes, he had made all things exceedingly expensive, attempted by a law to limit their prices. Then much blood [of merchants] was shed for trifles, men were afraid to offer anything for sale, and the scarcity became more excessive and grievous than ever. Until, in the end, the [price limit] law, after having proved destructive to many people, was from mere necessity abolished." As with Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices, shortages lead to black markets where prices for the same good exceed those of an uncontrolled market. Furthermore, once controls are removed, prices will immediately increase, which can temporarily shock the economic system. Black markets flourish in most countries during wartime. States that are engaged in total war or other large-scale, extended wars often impose restrictions on home use of critical resources that are needed for the war effort, such as food, gasoline, rubber, metal, etc., typically through rationing. In most cases, a black market develops to supply rationed goods at exorbitant prices. The rationing and price controls enforced in many countries during World War II encouraged widespread black market activity. One source of black-market meat under wartime rationing was by farmers declaring fewer domestic animal births to the Ministry of Food than actually happened. Another in Britain was supplies from the US, intended only for use in US army bases on British land, but leaked into the