Price controls on gas = voodoo economics

www.hotchicken.com ^ | 8-31-05 | www.hotchicken.com

[thebiggestdog]

Hawaii has taken action to curb the price of gas to consumers by limiting the price that wholesalers can charge the retailers for gas. I know people are laid back in Hawaii but somebody in state government should have known that this was a bad idea.

I heard an interview with a person in Hawaii who was in favor of price controls, and it was the usual voodoo economics- the oil companies are making big profits, so they must be gouging consumers. Maybe not.

[thebiggestdog]

The evil oil refiners are making money, so Hawaii legislators have decided to put a price tax on wholesale gasoline prices. The problem is that gasoline is sold by retail establishments, and the gas station owners are not required to cap their price for gas. Did anyone in Hawaii take Econ 101?

[silverleaf]

Like, wholesalers don't have alternate markets that want their products without price controls? I suppose next the Aloha State will pass a law requiring wholesalers to deliver gas to Hawaii retailers....as if.

[supercat]

Which gas station owner will charge more then the station across the street, or down the block?

I saw a $0.34 price differential this morning at two gas stations that sat kitty-corner from each other ($2.89 and $3.23). No line at either, but people were filling up at both.

[supercat]

Would you fill up at the more expensive one? Whould your spouse, brother, mother, father, sister, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or any person with the common sense God gave carrots fill up at the more expensive station save the reasons stated before?

Perhaps the other station doesn't put ethanol in its gas (though it seems ubiquitous in Illinois). Perhaps someone was too lazy to make an inconvenient left turn. Perhaps they're so used to the two stations being about the same price they didn't bother to look to see if they still were [nb: the cheaper station was unusually low for the area].