Gas prices are at their highest level in history. It cost me $30 to fill up my Honda yesterday. I agree, it sucks.
Millions of Americans are asking, along with the elite news media: "What is the government going to DO about this?"
Hopefully nothing.
During the late 70s, in response to rising oil prices, the Carter Administration created the Department of Energy. Worst idea ever. Carter set price controls on fuel, regulating what gas station owners could charge for a gallon of gas. This, of course, led to long waiting lines at gas stations because demand was unnaturally outstripping supply.
Enter Ronald Reagan, whose first action as President in January of 1981 was to end these disasterous price controls.
Bam. Energy crisis solved. Gas lines disappeared. Beginning in 1981, the price of oil went back up to its natural market level, inducing firms to produce more oil, and during the course of the 1980s the price of oil dropped substantially. With the stroke of a pen, Reagan ended the energy crisis.
So what's going on 25 years later? The explosive growth of China and India over the last 5 years, the current mess in the Middle East, and a strict Sierra Club-style regulatory environment preventing production and refining in the US are all reasons for oil's high price today.
My point is, we don't need an energy "plan". The best thing the government can do right now is LEAVE THINGS ALONE and GET OUT OF THE WAY. The cure for $60 a barrel oil is...$60 a barrel oil. The price system will take care of everything, and all indicators show that it already is doing so. Prices are the most efficient mechanism at sending the necessary signals to producers through profit incentives to bring more petroleum to market (world oil production is at its highest level in history), to entrepreneurs to invest more in alternative fuel technologies (happening), and to consumers to conserve more (also happening; i.e., more people are buying hybrids instead of SUVs).
There's a great article at the Baltimore Sun that puts this to words much better than me. Subscription is free.
Give me one example where government has done a good job solving energy crunches. Why do people always turn to government to solve their economic problems? Especially when the government has the worst track record and the free-market has the best? All of the aforementioned participants, acting in their own self-interest and not under some grand "master plan" of a central authority, nor naive altruism (notice, for example, how more people are buying hybrids today NOT because they're tree-huggers or anthropology majors but because it will SAVE THEM MONEY), will solve our energy crunch in the most efficient manner. Just watch.
6 comments:
The sad thing is that it will probably take a while for the gas prices to go down, and whoever is President in a couple of years(God help us if it is Hillary Clinton) will get credit for it. This will once again give the gay media an excuse to harp on the Bush administration. If I hear one more actor say "I just wish the President was smarter than me"(Bill Maher in particular), I will toss my cookies. Those people can give me a call when they get their G.E.D. Then we can talk.
Amen. Actually, if use Mr. Maher, Mr. Clooney, and Mr. Moore's logic which places importance on irrelevant things like intellect and grade point averages when it comes to deciding who should be president, they all must have voted for Bush last year. Kerry was in fact "dumber" than him at Yale, as we all now know.
I'd rather have an allegedly "dumb" president (Reagan)who is passive and leaves things alone anyday of the week over one who's supposedly active and "smart" (Carter) and claims to know what's best for me by implementing meticulous planning and other socialist measures.
There was a saying among Reagan's people during his first term - "Don't just stand there, undo something!" Brilliant line.
I usually don't comment on the political posts but I, too, am feeling the pinch caused by rising gas prices. In order to conserve, I am planning to steal a bike that has been sitting outside the RAC all summer and ride it to class. It's an old, rusty, maroon beach cruiser. The bike of my dreams.
Will, you should paint 1902 on the side of the bike. It would be a little secret wink wink nod nod for us BC-folk.
Make sure you put a koozie holder on the handle.
By the way, does anyone know what Groves looks like this year?
As I was running today, I saw a Mexican carrying a heavy load piggy back style while landscaping Coach Dooley's massive yard.
In light of the post, has anyone ever thought of the limitless supply of Mexican labor as a transportation resource? They would be fairly cheap to buy (the costs being transportation from Mexico, a Green card, and a cheap mattress for your garage floor.) Better yet, all they need is a couple of 99 cent Tacos a day for fuel. We could start an indentured servant system like the one instituted in the 13 Colonies.
Post a Comment