A free market can address shortages either way. If supply is so low that the prices are uncomfortably high, you expect to see a lot of people finding ways to make do without. If the price becomes so high that everyone finds ways to do without, then you expect the price to drop again until it finds another equilibrium.

I think your phrasing makes a valid point, but what we're seeing is absolutely expected in a free market, not some sort of aberration.