--- Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What a load. > > Ever hear of the "Strategic Petroleum Reserve?" > Apparently, > someone, somewhere thought that the government > needed to > step in to ensure a consistent supply of this public > good. > > Dave
I have. But you haven't, apparently, because you don't seem to know what it is. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a very good idea designed to deal with political (i.e. non-market) disruptions in crude oil supplies. The problem we're dealing with at the moment is (first) mainly a problem of _refined_ gasoline, to which the SPR can contribute very little right now, because it stores crude oil. It's also _strategic_, i.e., designed to be used because oil is a political commodity. This is very different from price controls (enforced, in your call, by shooting people who violate them, because that's how you usually end up dealing with looters). Price controls are almost always a bad idea. They've always been a bad idea. They're the idea of people who think that they are somehow morally exempt from the laws of supply and demand, a position that makes about as much sense as claiming you're morally exempt from the law of gravity. You might _want_ to be, but I still advise a parachute next time you jump out of an airplane. In this case, if we were to not raise the price of gasoline when the quantity of gasoline available has shrunk, the outcome would be immediately predictable. Shortages. Gas lines. You raise the price of something if you want people to use it more efficiently. We now have less gasoline. You want people to use it more efficiently? The price has to go up. It can go up in the dollar price. Or it can go up by making people wait in line. We tried that in the 1970s, it wasn't really a successful policy. Unless you're a member of the left, I guess, which seems to believe that the entire world should be run like the DMV. Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
