Price gouging is a natural thing when demand outstrips supply. You fight against it and you just maintain scarcity and no one gets anything (and you create a black market) You allow it to happen and competitors see $$$ and production skyrockets, outpaces demand and prices fall. Usually too far, it wobbles a bit and you hit equilibrium.

Everytime someone tries to do price fixing it blows up in their face, and then the govt has to become the producer.

The only time the market does not resolve itself is when there is monopoly/cartel/reverse price fixing. This is the threat to capitalism, and it is exasperated by crony capitalism when companies control politics to create regulations that seem good but just push out small businesses.

No one does anything until it gets really bad and then the govt gets pushed by the people to act tough. They might do something that is a blend of good and bad that may fix the problem, make it worse, or temporarily fix it while paving the way to creating more problems.