OK, the stories are out about potential gas gouging in a lot of areas, with some prices jumping $0.80 to $1.25 in some. Michigan’s Governor Granholm has already stated she would go after “gougers” and many other governors have made the same statements. Even the President has mentioned it.
But when considering the situation, how bad is it to charge more for gas, and at WHAT point is it considered price gouging? Not only that, but what RIGHT does GOVERNMENT have to CONTROL Prices? If a station owner is looking at NO deliveries for the next two to four days raises his prices because his supplier is unable to guarantee delivery, who is in a position to criticize it?. What is that person supposed to do? By gas prices going high temporarily, it guarantees that those who TRULY NEED the resource will have it.
We all adjust our driving habit based on what we can afford, and gasoline use has reportedly dropped more than 5% since fuel prices began spinning out of control. But 5% less use will not account for a nearly 20% loss in gasoline temporarily. So for a short time the increase might keep a few more people at home, off the roads, and allow the fuel which is in a shortage state (20% is significant) to be available to drivers who have no choice but to drive.
We don’t have to LIKE high gas prices, and we may even suspect our neighborhood station owner of profiting a little, but unless we all are willing to go down that road which ultimately leads to permanent shortages which we had in the Carter years, (remember odd/even days) then we need to back off and consider the real source of the issue, which is REALITY. Hurricane Ike has reduced refining capacity, and has a large impact because we do not have refineries in other locations (blocked by LIBERAL group lawsuits) which would have mitigated the issue, but alas…
Gas price gouging may, or may not be happening, but tinkering with the free markets is ALWAYS a BAD idea.
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I agree with you except for one point. There’s not an expected decrease in supplies. The refineries haven’t been hit hard, and it doesn’t appear that any production is going to be offline for a significant amount of time. Any delays will be minor, if at all.
The only reason some stations are running out of gas is because of the fears of the ignorant that prices are going to skyrocket and causing a run on stations.
If people would simply handle things in a sane and educated matter, we wouldn’t have many of the problems we do today.
Kudos to “nathan” for astute reasoning. Fear and greed cause runs on supplies.
Kudos to “jgillman” for his statement “what right does government have to control prices?” They only have the control to raise prices everytime they raise taxes. Nice, huh?
What’s remarkable is how quickly voters forget that it is the Democrats who are proposing higher gasoline prices, not through supply and demand pricing, but through taxation to “encourage conservation.”
This weekend, rumors were flying about the price of gas going up; all the folks who rushed to fill their tanks ensured that it happened. Most drivers, who are also voters, have no clue as to how the market works – thanks to morons like Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann.