The government is cracking down hard on price gouging.
Tips
usage
Almost always followed by a price: 哄抬物价 or 哄抬价格. It names traders pushing prices up together, often during a shortage, and is a word of news reports and regulations.
mistakes
哄 is read hōng here, the noise of a crowd acting together, as in 哄抢 'to loot, to scramble for'. It is not hǒng 'to coax', as in 哄孩子 'to soothe a child'.
