The only bright spot in the whole dreadful 10-15 years of petroleum and
gas price control era is that even the liberal pols no longer lunge for
controls (price) in response to price spikes.
Nixon didn't eliminate price control authority on petroleum when he
administratively abolished the wage-price control program in 1972 and in
fact used it to allocate propane; Congress seize on this "loop hole" and
turned it into legislatively imposed controls in 1973-74 in the "embargo"
hysteria. Ford in 1975 could have vetoed (and sustained it) extension
of the program, ridding us of controls, the immoral allocation machinery,
high prices and shortages, but blinked and let the extension take place.
Carter not only carried on the program, but went on to create over 40 plus
categories of natural gas for regulatory purposes, even though he promised
to decontrol gas in the 76' campaign.
It's hard for me to believe a counter factual story that the Carter
administration and Congressional democrats would have willingly returned
the petroleum and gas industry to the private sector. Remember, it was
the moral equivalent of war, although ironically the gas lines in the late
70's probably contributed to their electoral defeat.
Reagan just knocked it in the head--done, gone, finished, end of story,
hello $10 oil, although it took longer to get the natural gas situation
straightened out and usher in the decade long price control induced "gas
bubble", incidentally making it possible to say goodby to the $10 mcf
budding "synfuels" boondoggle.
Oh yes, not ever thing turned out rosey--we still need to get back to
work on a plan for "Energy Independence" starting with corn fed fuel and
limitless incentives for "renewables".
As Hans Landsberg wrote at the time "Anyone Want to Play Energy Policy?"
Rodney Weiher
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
From "Rethinking Carter" by
William L. Anderson
[Posted October 25, 2000]
Posted at
http://www.mises.org/fullarticle.asp?control=535id=68
by the Von Mises Institute
"First, he announced gradual decontrol of oil prices and the phasing
out of the Keystone-Cops like government allocation system. However, Carter
also pushed a "Windfall Profits Tax" on the belief that decontrol would
bring higher prices and, thus, higher profits to oil companies that "really
don't deserve them." The Wall Street Journal so opposed Carter's oil tax
that it published an editorial, "Death of Reason," on the day Congress
passed the tax, bordering the editorial in black.
Full decontrol was scheduled to take place in the spring of 1981, but
Reagan upon taking office lifted controls almost immediately, thus receiving
credit for what was mostly the action of his predecessor. While Carter
was mistaken in his belief that decontrol would automatically increase
oil profits (many investors also made the same error), one must also recognize
the political heat he took for his actions, especially from the left. Ralph
Nader, who had endorsed Carter as a "breath of fresh air" just four years
earlier, denounced oil decontrol as "the greatest anti-consumer action
of this century" and predicted $600 a barrel oil by 1990."
