Adding insult to injury
Stephen Gordon adds insult to injury in a press release about price gouging:
"As I live in Morgan County but work in Atlanta, I see the impact of government intervention into the retail gasoline market on a daily basis," said Libertarian Party of Alabama Chairman Stephen Gordon. "I bought gas last night in Calhoun County, Alabama, but by the time I made it to Cobb County, Georgia, there was no gas anywhere to be found."Ouch. That hurt."Consumers have no incentive to conserve gasoline when the prices are artificially low," Gordon continued. "If the cost was higher, they would be driving less or using more efficient vehicles. Additionally, when gas prices become high enough, there is an increased motivation for gas station owners and operators to truck fuel in from greater distances – passing the additional cost on to consumers."
An Associated Press article also published today anecdotally highlighted this point. "Right now, I'll pay anything for gas," construction worker Larry Jenkins said. "I don't care if it's $5 or $6 a gallon. I need it."
"Alabamians should be proud that we beat Georgia on the football field over the weekend," Gordon said. "We should also be proud that we have better public policy pertaining to price gouging than Georgia. Or would the Montgomery Advertiser prefer that we limit our football scores to no more than one touchdown per quarter?"
Comments
gasbuddy.com shows prices in Montgomery twenty cents lower than in Atlanta. Atlanta has a bigger shortage than Montgomery. You would think that Gordon would at least try to make his argument consistant with the facts. Price controls are wrong because they are wrong. They are not wrong because of the effects.
Posted by: Joe | September 30, 2008 04:29 PM
I think you are misunderstanding. He is saying prices are artificially low with price controls because price isn't based on supply. If that were the case, they'd be much higher.
And, they are wrong because of the effects. If prices were based on supply, it would alter buying habits. People may not fill up as much or when they have half a tank left.
Posted by: Jason | September 30, 2008 04:54 PM
You would normally expect prices to be lower with price controls. But that is not the case here. Georgia has price controls, Alabama does not. Yet Georgia has higher prices. What I am saying is that since this doesn't really make sense, do not use it as the basis of an argument.
Whether price controls work or do not work, the fact is that that is NOT a government function. That is one of the main problems that we have at all levels of government, too much government interference.
Posted by: Joe | September 30, 2008 07:24 PM
I don't disagree about government interference. We see eye-to-eye on that.
The higher gas prices in Georgia are a result of a blend that is special to Atlanta. There is a limited to supply of it and gas stations aren't allowed to charge more that they're regular profit margin for it.
Posted by: Jason | September 30, 2008 07:58 PM